Congratulations to Dumb and Dumber.
The Obama administration let North Korean leader Kim Jong Il save face by releasing two jailed Americans to former President Bill Clinton. The payoff — maybe not right away — is likely to be renewed dialogue with Pyongyang about its nuclear weapons program.
After meeting with Clinton, who made an unannounced visit to the North Korean capital Tuesday, Kim pardoned and freed the young journalists who allegedly crossed into the country from China earlier this year. They were serving 12-year prison sentences.
“It could provide an opportunity to move forward on the nuclear issue, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” said Victor Cha, former Asia chief at the National Security Council. “The history with the North Koreans, as they have just done the past few months, is to put themselves out on a ledge. And they always need help getting off that ledge.”
……North Koreans have been demanding bilateral talks with Washington. The U.S., however, has shot down such overtures, insisting that it will work only through the six-party format.
North Korean behavior— ever an enigma — has included in recent months the withdrawal from those talks. The regime also launched a long-range rocket, conducted a second nuclear test, test-fired a barrage of ballistic missiles, and restarted its atomic program in defiance of international criticism and the U.N. Security Council.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_nkorea_analysis
‘Get them off the ledge’? Shit, I’d push them off.
Every American journalist who ventures into North Korea knows the risks involved. It’s a game to Jong Il. The game goes like this: American journalists are arrested, accused of working for the CIA, and given a perfunctory show trial and conviction. Then, they simply wait for one of the ex-presidents/self-appointed statesmen—usually Democrats—to plead with Pyongyang for their release. It’s like an unruly child throwing a tantrum. They scream and kick, and mommy sympathizer hands them a lollipop to shut them up. What junior really needs in a sound spanking.
In the meantime, North Korea gets into the headlines again. While Obama frets over “dialogue”, North Korea continues with its ballistic missile program.
Mission accomplished.