Despite criticism and the reality that one can never negotiate with terrorists or NKoreans... B
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews <http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=20 07-05-20T182520Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-299109-1.xml&archived=False> &storyID=2007-05-20T182520Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-299109-1.xml&archived=F alse Korea deal ANALYSIS - Despite criticism, U.S. sticks with North Korea deal Sun May 20, 2007 6:32 PM IST By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A snag in what is probably the easiest phase of the North Korea nuclear agreement has sparked new criticism of the Bush administration but U.S. officials appear committed to pursuing a solution, even if it reverses previous policy. More than a month after Pyongyang was due to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear complex under a Feb 13 deal, it has not done so, insisting it first receive $25 million in once-frozen accounts. "It's tricky but I think some way forward will be found because everybody has such an interest in getting this issue stabilized," said Gary Samore, a non-proliferation expert and vice president at the Council on Foreign Relations. The funds are held in the Macau-based Banco Delta Asia or BDA and the U.S. State Department has been trying to persuade international and U.S. banks, including Wachovia Corp., to facilitate a transfer of the accounts to the North. Whether other options are being actively discussed is unknown. Because the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted BDA on grounds that it is tainted by Pyongyang's counterfeiting and other illicit activities, reputable institutions have been reluctant to risk handling the funds. PATIENCE DISPLAYED Keen for a foreign policy success, President George W. Bush, who once branded North Korea part of an "axis of evil", and top aides have shown unusual patience as the BDA issue plays out. The hard-won Feb. 13 deal, achieved after North Korea tested a nuclear weapon last October, must not be allowed to founder over the relatively paltry sum of $25 million, chief U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill and other officials have insisted. But critics disagree. John Bolton, a leading opponent of North Korea when he was Bush's U.N. envoy and top non-proliferation expert, excoriated the U.S. approach in a Wall Street Journal column this week and urged Bush to withdraw from the Feb. 13 deal. He argued that despite the agreement, there is still no sign Pyongyang will forsake nuclear weapons or that it made significant concessions, since the 50 megawatt nuclear reactor at Yongbyon is near the end of its life span anyway. More alarming, Bolton and other critics said, is a reversal of policy that is undermining U.S. credibility and muscle as Washington confronts not only North Korea but Iran as well. On moving against BDA in September 2005, the Treasury said it had taken law enforcement actions that could only be reversed when Pyongyang halted counterfeiting, drug and cigarette smuggling -- practices officials say continue even now. Administration hardliners had long advocated such pressure -- isolating North Korea from the international financial community -- as the only way to force change in Pyongyang's behavior or perhaps topple the system. They were so sure the pressures would stay in place until the Pyongyang government collapsed, that they gave little thought to how the penalties could be lifted as part of a diplomatic settlement, officials said. SHIFTING POLICY But when it became apparent there would be no negotiations or nuclear deal with North Korea if the funds were not released, Bush at first agreed Pyongyang could get some of the money back and then relented in giving all of it back. Finally, after insisting it had done all it could by acquiescing in the funds' release, the United States agreed to find a bank to handle the BDA transfer, a move critics say will allow Pyongyang back into the international financial system. It is "perplexing to see the U.S. now take a series of unilateral steps to unravel this policy (of U.N. sanctions and related actions) and reward North Korea for doing ... well nothing," Michael Green, a former White House Asia adviser during the period when Bush refused to talk to Pyongyang, wrote in the Financial Times. Experts say the BDA impasse is particularly dispiriting because it was supposed to be the easy first phase of the Feb. 13 agreement when, after North Korea froze Yongbyon and allowed U.N. inspectors back into the country, the United States and its partners -- South Korea, Japan, Russia and China -- were to ensure Pyongyang received political and economic benefits. In the next phase, Pyongyang is supposed to give a complete inventory of its nuclear facilities and weapons, and eventually dismantle the entire program -- the ultimate test of its intentions. "They will go ahead and implement the first phase of the agreement (but given all the problems) I don't think the second phase is likely to make much progress, at least during this administration," Samore said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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