Posted on 09/01/2007 8:22:18 AM PDT by nuconvert
Bush: North Korea's nuclear program might be dismantled before his presidency ends
AP
August 31, 2007
WASHINGTON: U.S. President George W. Bush, ahead of his trip next week to an Asian summit, said it is possible that North Korea will give up its nuclear weapons program before he leaves office.
"Can it happen before I'm through? Yes, it can. I hope so," Bush told foreign journalists Thursday at the White House.
He spoke for 45 minutes in the Roosevelt Room about Iraq, climate change, terrorism, trade, and U.S. relations with China and other Asian nations.
In an interview with Australia's Sky News network, Bush said he would be concerned about China's military if the country ever turned hostile.
"My view of China is that they're internally focused to the extent that they want economic growth and vitality, they're externally focused in order to get the raw materials they need, but if they ever turn hostile, I would be concerned about the military," Bush said.
He also urged countries considering pulling troops out of Iraq to base their decisions on restoring the country's security, saying the U.S. needs "all our coalition partners" in the troubled nation.
The president, who leaves Monday for Sydney, Australia, for his seventh Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, expressed frustration with the slow work in getting North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programs. Yet, he said the United States, China, South Korea, Russia and Japan are making progress in their goal of achieving a de-nuclearized Korean peninsula.
North Korea agreed in 2005 to disclose and dismantle all aspects of its nuclear weapons program. The International Atomic Energy Agency said the communist regime is cooperating with U.N. experts overseeing the mothballing of key nuclear facilities; IAEA experts last month confirmed the shutdown of four nuclear facilities at Yongbyon.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
pong
John Bolten has called Bush out on this issue. The President’s actions i.e balatant payoffs, are making the situation worse rather than better.
I find that to be a stupid comment. I guess every President since the 50’s could have said that. “North Korea COULD dismantle their nuclear weapons by the time I leave office.” I have a real difficult time with this. I thought it was satire at first. Sadly, I find out he really said this statement.
“Sadly, I find out he really said this statement.”
Reality sucks, doesn’t it?
Right jab to Iran, upper cut to North Korea.
Yes it does and I have been getting kicked with it alot lately with the President. He could have been up there next to Ronald Reagan as the best President but he destroyed those chances.
It would be fascinating to watch if Bush finished out his term with the following accomplishments:
1)Capture of Bin Laden
2)Disarming of No Korea
3)Disarming and regime change in Iran
4)Stability in Iraq
The left would give him no credit, but they will know history will have cemeted a positive legacy. Something that Bill Clinton is desperately trying to attain.
5)Sovereignty of the US assured by controlling our own borders.
Oh wait....
1) If OBL is still alive, but in either case, his "capture" or "proof of death" is no longer essential, and may even be detrimental in continuing the GWOT.
2) Pretty much accomplished by deft handling of six-party "talks" and sticking China with the NoKo hot potato, which they clearly don't need.
3) I hope and believe that it will be accomplished by either military or possibly even peaceful means now, with the change in leadership in Europe - France, Germany, even UK (Gordon Brown understands that stronger stance on Iran may actually help prevent military action à la Iraq!)
4) Depends on definition of "stability". It may be considered that Iraq is relatively stable now, especially as a democracy. Besides, the "instability" in Iraq is something that, quite possibly, kept us from being attacked on our own soil, as we string along al-Qaeda and keep them busy and capturing and destroying them in Iraq (which they hope to "win" politically with the help of Democrats here at home). We also get to test new weapons and defensive equipment and get precious and otherwise hard to come by intelligence on al-Qaeda from captured jihadists in Iraq, all the while establishing trust and good will of many of her citizens which will serve us well in the future. So a little bit of "instability" in Iraq goes a long way to keeping us safe on our soil and elsewhere - of course, unless we allow to be defeated at the hands of Democrats here at home.
5) Well, that's been a real bummer. Many of Bush's domestic "compassionate conservative" policies and advisers have been less than impressive, to say the least, in contrast with his foreign policy group (Colin Powell and civil servants' apparatus notwithstanding)...
I think bin Laden’s been dead for some time now. He probably died anonymously, and any US troops responsible never told anyone for fear of prosecution. Or it’s so classified that we haven’t heard of it because al-Qaeda hasn’t proven it conclusively. Or we bombed his cave, a rock shut the opening, and he slowly starved inside the cave without hope of rescue. We all die eventually, and the more years pass, the greater the probability that he has met his Maker (who promptly sent him to the warmer side of the afterlife).
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