Rather than lunge for a last-minute deal with North Korea over its nuclear program, the Bush administration should focus on laying a foundation for the next administration, said The Washington Post in an editorial yesterday. Excerpts:
The 60-foot-high cooling tower at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor came tumbling down in a cloud of dust yesterday, producing a television picture that US officials have been seeking for more than two years. The dramatic image was meant to convey the tangible results of a protracted and torturous diplomatic campaign to eliminate North Korea's nuclear weapons program and signal its irreversibility. In that sense there is less than met the eye.
Yongbyon's shutdown is indisputably a positive development, and one that a US-led coalition achieved at relatively modest cost. No longer will the facility add to a North Korean plutonium stockpile that already contained the raw material for at least eight bombs - though the plant has not yet been dismantled beyond repair. Still, the goal of disarming North Korea, far from becoming inevitable, remains distant - and the regime's repeated evasions, lies and failures to fulfill its promises strongly suggest that it has no intention of giving up its arms. In exchange for its partial compliance, Kim Jong Il's regime will get everything promised it by the international coalition, including the equivalent of 1 million tons of fuel oil and removal from the US list of terrorism sponsors. Though US officials said the effect is largely symbolic, it is, at least, galling to public opinion in Japan, which is still seeking answers from Pyongyang about citizens who were kidnapped and forced to live in North Korea.With only months left in office, Bush administration officials now intend to press ahead with a new phase of negotiations that would seek to establish a plan for North Korea to turn over its weapons and plutonium in exchange for far larger US concessions. The talks will go forward despite the still-outstanding questions about the uranium program and proliferation to Syria.
