On Second Thought, Let’s Not Talk to Our Enemies Without Preconditions!

As someone who openly seeks the violent overthrow of the regime by cultivating and arming an internal opposition, I never thought I’d see the day when the Obama Administration moved to in a diplomatic direction at least as extreme as mine, and possibly more so:

American diplomatic efforts on North Korea are coming under fire within the Obama administration from officials who consider talks futile and instead want to focus on halting the regime’s trade in nuclear weapons and missile equipment, U.S. officials said.

Oh, goody.  Here comes the paralyzing factional gridlock.

The administration’s official goal has been to coax the Pyongyang government back into the six-nation disarmament talks that began in 2003.

Yet privately, many senior officials say they have all but lost hope that North Korea will cooperate, and some are arguing that it is time for a new approach.

“We don’t have six-party talks,” said a senior U.S. official who described internal discussions on condition of anonymity. “We may have no choice but to move to containment.”  [Paul Richter, L.A. Times]

A bluff?  Probably.  Still, it seems awkward of me, of all people, to remind the “let’s talk to our enemies without conditions” crowd that diplomacy really does have its place here.  First, it has cosmetic power for fooling the stupid, some of whom we’ll want to fool into believing that we believe it’s going to solve our problems in the end (and if you don’t, you must hate peace, right?).  Second, diplomacy could avert full-contact cross-DMZ Gotterdammerung by giving the Kim Family Regime a quick and safe exit to Beijing should the need arise.  Third, that same diplomatic structure could help avert conflict with China by keeping both Chinese and American forces out of a post-Kim North Korea, though admittedly, those talks could just as well be bilateral, or trilateral with South Korea, which ought to have the burden of occupation.  Finally, there is a (very) slender chance that the regime might dismantle the nuclear programs we know about if we keep enough economic pressure on it.

It’s odd how history develops.  Just as Bush went soft on North Korea to prove to Iran and his domestic critics that he could negotiate, Obama gets tough with North Korea to show Iran and his domestic critics that he has a spine.