It seems that not a day goes by
anymore that some critical issue doesn’t make headlines in Washington. It’s
hard to keep track of what crisis dominated the news yesterday, never mind last
week or last month. A case in point is North Korea.
When President Trump returned from his
meeting with Kim Jong Un, he pronounced the nuclear crisis over. Trump had used
his unparalleled persuasive powers to get Kim to commit to North Korea’s
complete denuclearization. It was a triumph of Trumpian diplomacy. No more
needed to be said. It was a done deal and time to move on to the next
challenge. Except it doesn’t appear to be working out that way.
When a friend had asked me what I
thought about the Singapore Summit, I replied that I thought Trump had gotten
rolled. He had nothing but nice things to say about Kim, confident that the
North Korean dictator would keep his word. His word was enough for Trump to
show his faith in Kim by ordering, to the consternation of his military
advisers, the postponement of joint military exercises with South Korea. No
need to worry, said the President. “North Korea is no longer a threat.”
Energized by his East Asian success,
Trump ordered his foreign policy team to arrange a summit with Vladimir Putin. Putin
is a reasonable man: he will fold his cards, just like Kim. Except that Kim is
not folding his cards.
On June 28th, The Wall
Street Journal reported that satellite images had revealed that North Korea had
begun to upgrade a nuclear site, in direct contradiction to Kim’s assurances
that he would proceed immediately to end his nuclear program. Should anyone be
surprised?
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was
dispatched to Pyongyang to set matters straight, but he returned with the
bitter taste of reality about North Korean trustworthiness.
Kim Jong Un is doing exactly what
his father and grandfather had done before him: he is reneging on his promises
and is not about to give up his nuclear weapons. Mr. President, admit it: you
got rolled.
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