'Naive' Hillary Underestimates North Korea

Pyongyang can't be trusted with any nuclear program, says Bolton
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 18, 2009 8:54 AM CST
'Naive' Hillary Underestimates North Korea
A South Korean protester wearing a defaced North Korean flag shouts a slogan during a rally against North Korea's recent military policy in Seoul, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Hillary Clinton has embarked on an Asian tour armed with Bush-administration rhetoric and precious little understanding of the gravity of the North Korean situation, writes John R.  Bolton in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. The secretary of state is attempting to gain further support for American efforts to block North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons, but for the former UN ambassador, Clinton's "breathtakingly confused position" will only invite the North to indulge in further abuse.

According to Bolton, Clinton seems not to understand that the North, not the Bush administration, broke the accord that aimed to end the country's nuclear weapons program. Pyongyang cannot be trusted with any nuclear capability—even if it ended its quest for weapons, it still cooperates with Iran and Syria on their own quests for WMDs. Unfortunately, says Bolton, Clinton is exhibiting "a naivete extending well beyond North Korea."
(More Hillary Clinton stories.)

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