http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120086759363103871.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Helsinki, Redux? January 21, 2008 Listen to the U.S. State Department, and the six-party talks with North Korea are working: Pyongyang has agreed to abandon its nuclear program, China and South Korea are stepping up their diplomatic roles, and all Washington needs is patience. Enter Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush's Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea, with a reality check. In a speech Thursday in Washington, Mr. Lefkowitz said "it is increasingly clear" that the Bush Administration will end with North Korea remaining "in its present nuclear status." In other words, Pyongyang will not honor its promises. Mr. Lefkowitz offers a few reminders: North Korea has ignored two deadlines to disclose the details of its nuclear program, announced it will strengthen what it calls its "war deterrent," and is suspected of having proliferated some kind of nuclear technology to Syria. He added that China and South Korea have been "unwilling to apply significant pressure on Pyongyang" and have supplied large amounts of aid "even though it is often diverted from those in need to the regime elite and military." To reorient U.S. policy, Mr. Lefkowitz proposes a Helsinki process for North Korea, echoing Ronald Reagan's successful effort to undermine the Soviet Union almost three decades ago. Under this plan, Washington would tie aid to verifiable progress on human rights and disarmament. "The key is to make the link between human rights and other issues explicit and non-severable, so that it cannot be discarded in any future rush to 'get to yes' in an agreement," Mr. Lefkowitz says. Mr. Lefkowitz's analogy with the Soviet Union is not perfect. Kim Jong Il has demonstrated that he has more in common with Stalin than Mikhail Gorbachev. Mr. Lefkowitz is correct, however, to say the six-party talks aren't working and that a more "holistic" approach is needed. In addition to linking aid to improvements in human rights, he suggests restricting North Korea's access to the international banking system, a tactic that proved effective until it was rejected by the State Department. He is also right that the newly elected President in South Korea will likely take a tougher line toward Pyongyang -- especially if encouraged to do so by Washington. Mr. Lefkowitz's words bear special notice because he is close to Mr. Bush, who appointed him, and to whom he reports. A State Department spokesman said Friday that his "comments certainly don't represent the views of the Administration." Then again, maybe they do. [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: [email protected] 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. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
