The Political Chase

N. Korea Agrees to Nuclear Disarmament

This is good news and I don’t intend to lessen the significance of the event, but think about this for a moment.

In a landmark international accord, North Korea promised Tuesday to close down and seal its lone nuclear reactor within 60 days in return for 50,000 tons of fuel oil as a first step in abandoning all nuclear weapons and research programs.

North Korea also reaffirmed a commitment to disable the reactor in an undefined next phase of denuclearization and to discuss with the United States and other nations its plutonium fuel reserves and other nuclear programs that “would be abandoned” as part of the process. In return for taking those further steps, the accord said, North Korea would receive additional “economic, energy and humanitarian assistance up to the equivalent of 1 million tons of heavy fuel oil.”

First, this is not the first time North Korea has promised to stop or reduce their nuclear weapons programs. If I remember correctly, they dismissed a prior agreement during or from the Clinton administration. Promises and sustained actions are two different things. Second, I can’t say just how much credit the U.S. can really take for this agreement, but let’s assume the current administration can put their Mission Accomplished banner up again and it is substantiative - one accomplishment spanning six years does not make a good resume.

And speaking of Mission Accomplished, it has been 1,401 days since George Bush declared major operations in Iraq were complete.