John Bolton, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations under Bush, is very critical of Bill Clinton for making the trip to North Korea. He says it constituted negotiating with the terrorists and giving ransom. We may not like Kim Jong Il but he is head of state of North Korea. The journalists by mistake, or whatever the circumstance were, crossed the border from South Korea into North Korea and were arrested. They were given 12 years hard labour imprisonment and Bill Clinton got them released. And to John Bolton, what is wrong with that?
Bolton should ask the families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee the journalists, how do they feel? He should tell these families that Laura Ling and Euna Lee's lives don't matter and his Bush era misguided and dangerous policies are more important.
Was it not Bolton's party leader who made a much bigger move, in the case of North Korea a sitting US President was not the visitor, but when Nixon visited China. At the time, it was a much bigger standoff between China and the US. Henry Kissinger made many trips to pave the way for Nixon. That one moment might have changed world history when Nixon met Chinese leaders which paved the way for the fall of the iron curtain which brought down the USSR. Someone must tell Bolton that diplomacy does work.
Also, why not release some of the hostages the US is holding at Gitmo. Also the people of Iraq and Afghanistan are being held hostage because of Bush/Bolton policies. Clinton has opened a big door to North Korea to negotiate on other issues such as nuclear proliferation. If the US learns to give some respect to leaders of other nations it may open many more doors compared to gun diplomacy carried out by Bush and the likes of Bolton.
Well said!
ReplyDeleteThank you, buddy.
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