Sounds like a good strategy to separate NoKo from their [few remaining] apologists. This is a bait to show our "good face efforts" to the rest of the multi-party participants that we've gone the extra mile to enforce the terms of agreement.
If NoKo refuses to start allowing inspections and disarmament, there is no more excuses or phony accusations they can offer, it's over for them, and screws will be seriously tightened, next "agreement" will not be so "generous" for them. China is already cheesed off on Kim, if he starts causing problems after this "gesture of good will" he'll be in a heap of trouble with Chinese. They stand to lose the most, if their "client" doesn't play by the rules they helped set up.
$25 million "advance" of their own "frozen" assets is cheap and shrewd way to flush out Kim's intentions.
Good thinking by Condi, she is probably a good chess or poker player, 5 moves ahead of boneheads in State Dept.
We have been through the course you have just described. We were all led to believe that, if N. Korea set off their nuke, it is a last straw and all involved parties including China would enforce stiff sanctions. However, what happened? Chia shrugged it off after realizing that Japan is not about to go nuclear soon, nor scrap its pacifist constitution.
So what if N. Korea stiffs U.S. again? China would pretend to be annoyed. So would Russia. However, there would be no real change in their position.
Do you think that Dems would go along with ramping up pressure on N. Korea? Do you think that China would shut off all economic aid altogether?
More importantly, when it comes to disarmament and inspections, if N. Korea balks at thorough inspection on items not publicly disclosed yet, what would we do? Demand it steadfastly even at the risk of full-scale confrontation or resort to creative semantics and decided not to push it by saying that "it may not exist." There are many things that are under suspicion but not whose existence is not publicly confirmed, such as Yongbyon reactor. U.S. may forget about it, and take a stance that as long as they stay inside N. Korea, it won't push the matter. After all, it is important to smoothly pursue "strategic duologue with China."
Bush administration folks love to say again and again that if it fails next time, it would be the end, and tough retaliation would follow. Yet, they did not push it. It lost the political will. N. Korea knows it, and so does China & Russia.
What this administration is pursuing is to give the appearance of progress out of political expedience, and glory of State Dept..
Too many people worry about what would happen to their financial portfolio and shy away from the idea of confronting China in any meaningful way. In the era when just about everybody worries about financial portfolio, the fragility of financial market factors into the decision-making of national security matters. Financial market can be rattled badly and asset value could plunge if there is a major international crisis. People have become extremely risk-averse. That is the best weapon N. Korea and China have against U.S.
Everthing you just wrote was used to justify Maddie Halfbright's deal with the Norks.
Just how many times do you suggest we go down this road before you see the light?
(Fool me once... shame on you. Fool me twice...)