This will no doubt distress Josh Marshall, who is at the height of his game when he is examining the Bush administration’s foreign policy. Here is a taste of his thoughtful analysis:
The president and his crew are acting like that not-as-smart-as-he-thinks-he-is high school kid who’s always running into reverses and always blaming it on someone else. At first you think he’s getting a bad shake until you see the same thing happening over and over again. It’s always someone else’s fault. The South Koreans are lame. The Europeans are lame. Our Arab allies are lame. Everybody is lame. We’re given excuse after excuse. But at the end of the day the result seems to be our historic alliances, if not in shambles, then at least thoroughly beat-up.
At any rate, we have this news flash:
The International Atomic Energy Agency today declared that North Korea had failed to meet its nuclear commitments and sent the issue to the United Nations Security Council.
The resolution, passed by the IAEA’s 35-nation governing board with Russia and Cuba abstaining, had been sought by the United States as a way of increasing pressure on North Korea and providing a forum for resolving the standoff with the reclusive regime. The North Koreans have demanded direct talks with the United States, but the Bush administration has refused to negotiate unless the North Koreans first take steps to dismantle their nuclear weapons programs.
Got it, Josh- the North Koreans are not complying with agreements or international law. This is not because the president is stupid, or a high school kid, or can not accept blame. It is because the president is not going to stand for the nonsense that Albright and Clinton took for the previous 8 years. You keep your word, or you get called on it. You don’t get credit for saying the right words and doing the wrong thing. Get it?