Here we are again. In unilateral talks, the United States has conceded to North Korean demands that we trade food aid for North Korean suspension of weapons testing and uranium enrichment plus a return of IAEA inspectors – we wanted food aid to be decided purely on humanitarian grounds.
· We’ve been here before, only to see North Korea take the food and then back out and demand more concessions. They expelled inspectors and went on to test nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009.
· Food aid is critical at the moment for the North:
o To be able to establish the new leader, Kim Jong-un.
o To deliver on Kim Jong-il’s promise that this would be a breakout year for North Korea.
o And to be able to mark the 100-year anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-sung, the nation’s founder, with the lavishness North Koreans have come to expect when their leaders are feted.
· Where is the agreement that we “will trust but verify” that the 140,000 tons of food aid will go to the North Korean people rather than to fatten the administration and its military with the remainder perhaps sold by the cash starved tyrants?
· Why don’t the Chinese feed their ally?
I don’t know whether it’s better to do things bi-laterally with these thugs or whether the multi-lateral talks – North Korea, South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan – is the better approach.
The American left demands diplomacy, foreign aid and multilateralism everywhere but with North Korea. The right wants unilateral agreements, especially on trade and aid, sanctions and containment but with North Korea when it’s their turn at the helm. Should we expect a President Romney to reverse this agreement? Again?
I think we need to stop politicizing foreign policy and let the experts formulate longer term strategies for dealing with the world’s threats. We need to take positions our friends and enemies can rely upon.
North Korea Agrees to Curb Nuclear Work; U.S. Offers Aid
By Steven Lee Myers and Choe Sang-Hun, NYT
Published: February 29, 2012
North Korea Agrees to Halt Nuclear Activities for Food
By Jamie Crawford, CNN
Wed February 29, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment