Friday, June 27, 2008

Two Down?

I hate to be afraid to accept yes for an answer regarding North Korea's nuclear disarmament negotiations, but did North Korea say yes?

Their full and complete nuclear disclosure seems to be less than full and complete:

The list was not expected to provide details on nuclear weapons that the North may have produced.


And also this:

The declaration was not expected to include details of the North's alleged attempts to enrich uranium — the dispute that sparked the nuclear standoff in late 2002.


Oh yeah, and this:

The list also will not describe how the North allegedly helped Syria build a nuclear plant.


And this is before we examine whether we think they've been truthful in the narrow areas they are supposed to explain.

Ultimately, I think the way to solve the North Korean problem is not through negotiations that get North Korea to voluntarily disarm, but negotiatons that buy time for the regime to collapse.