Bush’s Tough-Talkin’ Korean Bungle
Posted in H.L. News, Main Blog (All Posts) on October 13th, 2006 9:10 am by HL
Bush’s Tough-Talkin’ Korean Bungle
Consortium News
Excerpt:
Months before 9/11 and the “global war on terror†– and two years before the Iraq War – George W. Bush tested out his tough-talkin’ diplomacy on communist North Korea. Bush combined harsh rhetoric and intimidating tactics to demonstrate to Pyongyang that there was a swaggering new sheriff in town.
In his first weeks in office, Bush cast aside the Clinton administration’s delicate negotiations that had hemmed in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. The new President then brushed aside worries of Secretary of State Colin Powell and South Korean President Kim Dae Jung about dangerous consequences from a confrontation.
At a March 2001 summit, Bush rejected Kim Dae Jung’s détente strategy for dealing with North Korea, a humiliation for both Kim, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Powell, who wanted to continue pursuing the negotiation track. Instead, Bush cut off nuclear talks with North Korea and stepped up spending on a “Star Wars†missile shield.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Bush got tougher still, vowing to “rid the world of evil†and listing North Korea as part of the “axis of evil.â€
