North Korea, Terrorism, and the Negotiations
 |
James Joyner | Thursday, February 15, 2007 |
Counterterrorism Blog’s Aaron Mannes has a piece in today’s NRO on a largely-ignored aspect of the negotiations over North Korea’s nuclear program: its demand to be taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. He recaps the DPRK’s long history of sponsoring regional terrorism, directed primarily against the ROK and Japan, most of which I was either unaware or had forgotten.
The ROKs are urging that we accede to this demand, which leaves the ball in Japan’s court. Considering the DPRK’s long and continuing history of kidnapping Japanese nationals, that’s going to be a tough sell.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife and infant daughter.
Follow James on FriendFeed | Twitter | Digg
- None Found
- Journalistic Ethics and Illegally Acquired Documents
- National Debt Hysteria?
- Educating Illegal Immigrants
- Caption Contest
- Nathalie Blanchard Facebook Smile Leaves Her Depressed
- Glenn Beck, Community Organizer
- OTB Latenight – Cherry Poppin’ Daddies
- Hacked Climate Scientists Emails Reveal Truth
- Obama, the Recession, and Polls
- Giuliani Running for Senate, Not Governor
DPRK demands to be taken off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. Wouldn't it be better if they acknowledged their past foul deeds and renounced the use of terrorism and kidnapping first?
They stand at the well with a large container of poison. They pour some in and as everyone gasps and grows angry they then start making demands lest they be forced to spill all their poison into the well because of our intransigence and our threatening posture towards them. But hey, we have a deal, right?
Wouldn’t it be better if they acknowledged their past foul deeds and renounced the use of terrorism and kidnapping first?
But what fun would that be?
Comments are Closed
