The “So what?” ... is in answer to your question.
In Post #135, you asked “ ... What would the US expect to get out of it?”
That would be “concessions” which would be hard to achieve otherwise. You use a “hot issue”, you dangle it like a carrot on a stick, you get the concessions, and when it becomes impossible to back out, you “pull a Lucy” (like with Charlie Brown) and yank the carrot completely away.
And there you have it ... the “so what” ... :-) ...
The dangle didn’t work. Clinton talked to some people and changed his mind.
So what?