I know that John McCain knows better than this, and I can’t help but think it’s a shame he has to pop off with such nonsense just to try and impress Republican primary voters.
Republican Sen. John McCain on Tuesday accused former President Clinton, the husband of his potential 2008 White House rival, of failing to act in the 1990s to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.
“I would remind Senator (Hillary) Clinton and other Democrats critical of the Bush administration’s policies that the framework agreement her husband’s administration negotiated was a failure,” McCain said at a news conference after a campaign appearance for Republican Senate candidate Mike Bouchard.
Right, Clinton’s policy was a “failure.” That would be the policy that led to no new North Korean nuclear weapons, on-site U.N. weapons inspectors, IAEA cameras, and an easing of tensions? Maybe John McCain can explain something to us — if Clinton’s policy was a “failure,” how exactly should we describe Bush’s policy?
As I noted yesterday, I’ll gladly concede that the 1994 Agreed Framework wasn’t perfect, but it did represent progress. It’s a lot more than anyone can reasonably say about Bush’s sorry excuse for a foreign policy.
The Center for American Progress had a good summary of the larger dynamic today.
With few good options left, the Bush administration is now forced to consider options it originally rejected. Yesterday, Bush “seemed to draw a sharp line that he warned Pyongyang not to cross,” telling reporters that the “transfer of nuclear weapons or material by North Korea to states or non-state entities would be considered a grave threat to the United States, and we would hold North Korea fully accountable of the consequences of such action”. But these clear warning lines — employed by the Clinton administration to prevent North Korea from going too far and converting fuel into bombs — were previously rejected by the Bush administration. National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley once stated that “red lines make no sense in North Korea’s case, because they are just an invitation to step over them.”
The right-wing’s knee-jerk reaction to blame President Clinton and reject his administration’s policies out-of-hand is no longer realistic and now more dangerous than ever. Under the 1994 “Agreed Framework,” North Korea agreed to shut down its major nuclear reactor, stop construction of two nuclear power plants, and subject spent nuclear fuel to international inspection. In return, Japan and South Korea agreed to build two light-water reactors (far less of a proliferation concern) and the United States would supply North Korea with heavy oil to make up for the lost energy from its shuttered nuclear plants. Once the light-water reactors were completed, their existing nuclear reactors were to be dismantled. The deal wasn’t perfect, but during the Clinton administration, North Korea didn’t make any nuclear bombs.
Did the Agreed Framework unravel? Yes, but that was hardly Clinton’s fault. South Korea backed out of its commitment to delivering light-water reactors, but by the time Bush took office, North Korea was still prepared to strike a deal with the U.S. on missile production, cameras were still in place, and weapons inspectors were still in the country. Colin Powell upon becoming Bush’s Secretary of State in 2001, was anxious to continue along the path Clinton had already laid out for his successor.
But Bush decided not to. The results speak for themselves — as does McCain’s blind partisanship.