Thailand Deports Crew of Axis of Evil Express

Brokedown Palace is about to lose a few tenants. Thailand has decided to deport the Boratistani crew of the Il-76 caught carrying weapons from North Korea to Iran instead of prosecuting them. The crew may face prosecution in their home countries instead. The plane and the cargo will stay in Thailand for the time being:

“We are waiting for the United Nations to recommend what to do with the weapons,” Mr. Panitan said in a telephone interview. “The plane is still under the care of the airport authorities. No one has come forward to claim it yet. [N.Y. Times]

More here.

I’m sure there’s much to this story that I don’t know, but based on what I do know, it’s difficult for me to criticize any of this. I can’t prove any complicity of course, but whether this crew made its unscheduled landing in Bangkok for reasons that were prearranged or not, the CIA still owes them a great debt of gratitude for doing it. And as long as the Thais don’t send the weapons onward to Iran or back to North Korea, they’ve done their bit. North Korea’s refugees and arms trade have both been a hassle and expense that Thailand really doesn’t need, and overall, Thailand has addressed both issues responsibly.

Now, my curiosity shifts to the matter of those indictments that were rumored last month. I worry that the State Department could have stepped in to kill them in the same way it killed the indictment for North Korea’s supernote operation years ago.

State seems to think that we can’t have successful diplomacy with Kim Jong Il if we expect him to live by the same rules that the rest of humanity lives by. I see no purpose to our diplomacy if we don’t, to which I’d add that enforcing the law is may be our last slender hope of pressuring Kim Jong Il to stick to his agreements. But there is much more to this story that deserves to profoundly influence our policy toward North Korea, including whether it was caught red-handed providing terrorists missiles that are ideal for shooting down airliners.