SecDef Gates Not Pushing for Agreed Framework III

Michael Yon traveled with Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Singapore and passes along these observations:

One matter that you will see in the press is that North Korea is the elephant in the room. Secretary Gates has made it clear that we have no intention of rewarding bad behavior, as we have done in the past with North Korea. Many readers seem to hold a special disdain for President Obama, and I actively campaigned for McCain, but I get the feeling that Obama is tougher and proving wiser than many people seem to think. I do not detect that we are slinking away from North Korea. It seems as though we are going to have some sort of showdown, which hopefully will all be through diplomacy. I heard Secretary Gates say that a nuclear armed North Korea is not in the cards. (Not verbatim but that was the gist.)

I asked an extremely high defense official if he thought North Korea would attack the United States, and he said they are crazy, but not that crazy. Judging by comments that I pick up here and there, it’s clear that our government views North Korea in the same light that most people do: the North Korean leadership is completely nuts. That’s the patois, and it’s actually how American officials will sometimes put it.

On the political front, it’s fascinating that the United States is such a global matchmaker. Many people think the world hates us, but I would say we have more allies than any nation has ever had in the history of mankind. All of the countries represented here have good relations with the United States, but many or most have little or no relations with each other. This is also true in the Gulf States in the Middle East. The United States has to pull all these countries together just so they will talk with each other on defense issues.

The architecture of the relationships has been likened to a wheel. The United States is the hub, and we have bilateral relations, like spokes, with just about everybody (other than a few countries such as North Korea, Iran and Cuba). But the United States wants to be less of the hub and wants these folks to cooperate with each other. So here we are: Global matchmaker. And the senior folks here, including Secretary Gates, are making it clear that if we unite against North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, we can work as a team with far greater horsepower. So part of the talks have been centered around developing a common approach and a common message. The particular talks that most interested me (between Japan, South Korea and the United States) were secret so I didn’t get in to hear, but I know that Secretary Gates had the Japanese and the South Koreans in the same room for about an hour. [Michael Yon]