I’m not one to agree much with most of what Senator John McCain (R-AZ) says or does, but on North Korea, McCain’s got it right (even if he’s saying it for his own political advantage).
North Korea isn’t Bush’s failure. It’s Clinton’s.
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.
“The Koreans received millions and millions in energy assistance. They’ve diverted millions of dollars of food assistance to their military,” he said.
A spokesman for Hillary spouted off the typical talking point rebuttal. And, apparently not wanting to be left out, John Kerry jumped in on the squabble.
“He must be trying to burnish his credentials for the nomination process,” said Kerry, who labeled McCain’s comments “flat politics and incorrect.”
“The truth is the Clinton administration knew full well they didn’t have a perfect agreement. But at least they were talking. At least we had inspectors going in and we knew where the (nuclear fuel) rods were. This way, we don’t know where the rods are, the rods are gone. There are no inspectors. Ask any American which way is better,” Kerry said.
Yadda yadda yadda, John. With you Democrats, it’s never the results that matter, it’s good intentions.
McCain went on to say he rejects Pyongyang’s call for bilateral talks.
“The worst thing we could do is to accede to North Korea’s demand for bilateral talks,” McCain said. “When has rewarding North Korea’s bad behavior ever gotten us anything more than worse behavior?”
Exactly, and that’s what we should be focusing on now as sanctions are being deliberated.