Thursday, June 26, 2008

BARACK OBAMA, JOHN MCCAIN

Primary Difference Between McCain and Obama on North Korea is Latter's Call for 'Aggressive Diplomacy'

Neither candidate has a great deal to say about the recent announcement from the White House regarding North Korea; the tone of both is "trust, but verify."

I will note that McCain's seems a little clearer on what he wants to see going forward.

It is important to remember our goal has been the full, permanent and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. That must remain our goal. The Six Party agreement called for North Korea to make a full declaration of all its nuclear weapons and nuclear programs. Many questions remain about North Korea’s programs, including the disposition of plutonium at Yongbyon, the number and status of nuclear weapons, the nature of the highly-enriched uranium program, and the extent of proliferation activities in countries like Syria.

McCain says that if the deal announced checks out, he's amenable to "easing" sanctions on North Korea.

Obama's, by comparison, has some mushy generic sentences like, "This is a step forward, and there will be many more steps to take in the days ahead. Critical questions remain unanswered." In the end, he too wants to verify the North Korean claims and if so, some sanctions can be removed. He warns that if the claims aren't verified, then we have go get tough by reinstating the sanctions. And then consider even more sanctions! (That'll show 'em.)

The one thing that is missing from Obama's statement is any specific reference to his earlier pledge to hold a face-to-face summit without conditions with the leader of North Korea - depicted in the YouTube video as Kim Jong Il. He does say the U.S. must "continue to pursue the kind of direct and aggressive diplomacy with North Korea that can yield results." As opposed to the kind of direct and aggressive diplomacy that can't yield results, I suppose.

06/26 03:52 PMShare