Nothing Good Can Possibly Come of This

I posit the following: Jimmy Carter would not have agreed to go to North Korea had North Korea not agreed to release Aijalon Gomes. The North Koreans know Carter is the best friend they have in this country, and not even they are foolish enough to humiliate him by sending him home empty handed. I also posit that North Korea would not have induced Carter’s visit without the expectation of some benefit to the regime. At a minimum, they can count on Carter to hear whatever disingenuous offer they want to extend to the Obama Administration to weaken or forestall financial sanctions and broadcast that message in op-eds and NPR interviews.

My greater fear, however, is that Carter’s visit will facilitate the extension of some more tangible, regime-sustaining ransom. So it was with Bill Clinton. While he played tough and let William Perry hint darkly about air strikes, he ultimately allowed Carter to broker the Agreed Framework that irrevocably made North Korea a nuclear power. I have no cause to believe that Obama is playing us, but I have cause to be suspicious. Even paranoid people have real enemies, after all.

I’d like to hear those who supported the methods of Robert Park and Aijalon Gomes (as opposed to their intentions) tell me why Park and Gomes have done more good than harm.