The conversion of George Bush
IF THERE was any lingering doubt that President Bush is moving away from his original, imperious style of statecraft, the personal letter he sent last week to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il should dispel that doubt for good. In the past, Bush said he loathed Kim, calling him a tyrant and a pygmy. Yet in the letter that was hand-delivered to Kim by Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, Bush addressed the recipient as ‘‘Dear Mr. Chairman’’ and concluded with the polite farewell formula, ‘‘Sincerely, George Bush.’’
Such a letter from any of Bush’s recent predecessors would have been unremarkable. Coming from him, however, it heralds a longoverdue and much-needed conversion.
After wasting six years refusing to conduct genuine negotiations with North Korea — years in which that country produced enough plutonium for eight to 10 nuclear weapons — Bush finally rejected the futile policy of administration hardliners and backed Hill’s diplomatic efforts to negotiate an agreement that could lead to the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, materials, and facilities.
Bush’s letter to Kim Jong Il was needed at this stage of the process Hill negotiated. North Korea has complied with its initial obligations by disabling its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon. Now it must make a complete declaration not only of all its nuclear materials and weapons, but also of past transfers of nuclear goods or know-how to other countries. This commitment takes on special significance if North Korea was involved with the alleged nuclear site in Syria that Israel destroyed in September.
The declaration is due in the next few weeks, though Kim was not expected to come clean all at once. Past practice suggests he is more likely to parcel out the truth in installments, testing Washington’s adherence to its commitments and eliciting the highest possible price, in economic and political benefits, for each disclosure.
Kim’s goal in striking a deal was to end hostile relations with the United States. So, Bush’s letter was meant to show not only that he stands behind Hill’s promises, but also that Kim can achieve normalized relations with the United States if North Korea’s nuclear declaration is ‘‘complete and accurate.’’
By engaging with the North Korean dictator, Bush is emulating not only Bill Clinton but also his own father, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon, John Kennedy, and Dwight Eisenhower. They negotiated and made deals with Soviet leaders, Mao Zedong, and North Vietnam’s communist regime. From ancient Athens until now, the rules for statecraft have been unalterable. The neoconservative notion that one must never negotiate with evil — but only destroy it — was always a doctrinal delusion. Now that Bush seems to have learned this lesson, he would be well advised to apply it to Iran and Syria. 