From The Daily Standard:
Perhaps the wisest words ever uttered–or attributed–to Ronald Reagan were: Don’t just do something, sit there.
Would that the Gipper were still around to guide U.S. strategy toward North Korea and the “Six Party Talks” meant to deal with Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Every time an American starts wringing his hands over the failure of the talks, someone in Beijing smiles contentedly. While we’re whipping ourselves over the fact that the North Koreans won’t come back to the table–which, actually, is supposed to be China’s responsibility–Beijing is advancing its other interests, particularly in putting pressure on Taiwan. The more frustrated and fixated we get, the better the Chinese like it.
Democrats, in particular, are obsessed by the idea that North Korea’s nukes are the most important security issue in East Asia. This was candidate John Kerry’s position and former Defense Secretary William Perry has roundly criticized the Bush administration for “outsourcing”–that is, engaging in multilateral diplomacy only–the job of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. These weapons, he insists, constitute an “imminent danger.”
