[...] My instinctive reaction was that this the latest retreat by a hopelessly divided and indecisive Administration that has steadily given ground to an intransigent North Korea. The retreats have been punctuated by words and occasional actions meant to create the appearance of decisiveness, but this report seals the continuity of those retreats fairly seamlessly since the Clinton Administration. Whereas our former position had been to work toward diplomatic recognition “eventually,” with non-specific discussions about human rights being a “soft” precondition, there’s really no saying if and how the issue would ever have been a part of the U.S. agenda. I personally believe that the State Department establishment has never met an agreement it didn’t like and is desperate to have this one before we enter the next presidential election cycle. That simple explanation is probably the most likely, and David Sanger’s NYT story notes that this is indeed the doing of Condi Rice and Philip Zelikow. Sanger, by the way, seems to have good connections in the White House. His information is generally accurate. [...]