NoKo No Go

Often times during 'xtended holiday family rehookups and reunions - things get off the hook double quick time. Rowdy assetted little boy cuzes and nephews enjoy 'rassling" and visiting violence on hapless girl kin. Happy Happy Joy Joy.

Kinda the same in the diplopolititary au courant with one of Great Satan's oldest allies since Cold War time.

For SoKo - in the last two years especially - provocatation piles up faster on a girl than uncles at a family reunion football game.

And all that Six Party nonprofit jawflapping has totally sucked.

"North Koreans continually walked away from the commitments they've made. And the tendency of the State Department was to make another concession, to see if that would get them to fulfill their commitments and their obligations. They never did."

Now that Soko's President Lee and 44 are back to same spot - it's time for abandoning NoKo or any chance of meaning dialogue for the forseeable future.

It's a no go on Noko

In truth, the administration decided that strategically, given the difficulties of dealing with Pyongyang, it was necessary to shore up its existing alliances and support the new South Korean president in his tough-minded policy.

The North, for its part, has repeatedly made noises to visiting Americans and Chinese about restarting talks both bilaterally and in the six-party forum. These have counted for little In Washington, which wants much greater assurance on North Korea’s commitment to denuclearization and on its newly revealed uranium-enrichment program. Kim Jong-il himself most recently declared the North Korean negotiating position: yes to talks, no to any preconditions.

More than strategic considerations are at work here. The top levels at the White House and State Department do not want negotiations, and they have shown themselves even tougher on this course than their predecessors in the Bush administration who were split on the utility of talks and went from hostility to hurried, often secret negotiations on an almost out-of-pocket basis, making many involved angry at not knowing what was happening.

There is no political benefit in Washington to having negotiations with such a truly bad state. The Congress, whether Republican or Democrat, has never liked negotiations with Pyongyang, and it certainly abhors giving North Korea the aid that would be required to invite progress on reducing the country’s nuclear-weapons capability. Congressional opposition contributes to the administration’s refusal to provide even the most badly needed food aid to the North. As presidential elections approach, we can expect our leaders to pay even less attention to North Korea—unless violence breaks out.

Pic - "Ddok barohae neon joengmal 'bad boy! Sarangbodan hogishimbbun!"