OK, OK, it’s actually not that bad, but, you just knew that the Credentialed Leftist media (and some #NeverTrumpers) would be losing their minds and attempting to put what was essentially a meet and greet in the worst possible light. Some are just bat guano insane, such as Excitable Kathleen Parker’s (since I’m at the WP), others attempt to put their Trump Derangement Syndrome in reasonable terms
No more concessions
America needs tangible commitments from North Korea. So far, Trump hasn’t gotten them.
THE SINGAPORE SUMMIT was, without question, a triumph for Kim Jong Un and his North Korean regime. A dictator who has ordered the murder of his own family members, and who oversees a gulag comparable to those of Hitler and Stalin, was able to parade on the global stage as a legitimate statesman, praised by the president of the United States as “very talented†and worthy of trust. President Trump offered Mr. Kim a major concession, the suspension of U.S. military exercises with South Korea, and spoke of his wish to withdraw U.S. troops from the country. Mr. Kim, meanwhile, did not commit to the “complete, verifiable and irreversible†denuclearization the United States has demanded — nor to any other change in his regime’s criminal behavior.
The two leaders agreed to begin a diplomatic process to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.†That is certainly preferable to the slide toward war that appeared to be underway last year, and it can be hoped that it will eventually lead to steps by North Korea to dismantle its arsenal. But Mr. Trump has placed a large bet on a cruel and unpredictable ruler whose motives and aims are far from clear — and who has shown no sign of altering North Korea’s commitment to nuclear weapons or its deceptive negotiating tactics.
Funny how we didn’t hear the same things regarding Obama attempting to, well, give the farm away to the Islamic extremists who run the Islamic Republic of Iran. But, such is the talking point of the Trump haters, who apparently would rather see the negatives in everything Trump.
But, this is the age of Trump. Things are done different. When Trump was saying that he could take the measure of Kim in a minute, that’s what he meant. To put it in terms of the business world, something which the politicians and those who follow them, like the WP Editorial Board, do not understand, you have two CEO’s of giant companies doing a meet and greet to see if they can do business. Looking each other in the eye. Having a frank conversation between personal stories and polite conversation. Then they go their separate ways and let their underlings handle the details.
The diplomatic process that will now begin ought to be aimed at delivering tangible North Korean commitments and meaningful actions. The United States should be seeking a full declaration of the regime’s arsenal and nuclear facilities, as a start; without it, showy demolitions of test sites are meaningless. And Mr. Trump should refrain from offering Mr. Kim any further unilateral concessions.
Trump gave NK a few concessions, all of which can be cancelled in a heartbeat. Trump is thinking about the bigger picture: making North Korea much less of a threat to the world, much less South Korea. Could NK be playing games? Of course. But, you have to determine whether to play that game. I’ll give Obama credit for refusing to play the normal game that previous presidents had engaged in, in which they gave NK stuff when NK became aggressive and verbose. Unfortunately, that led to the missile launches and nuclear weapons. But, that would have happened anyhow.
Now, we have Trump playing the game in his own way. People should be hoping it succeeds. What if NK can have their nuclear weapons capabilities removed, which leads to further weapons removals? What if the country can be made more open? What if it comes that South Korea and Japan no longer have to worry about attacks from NK? It has to start somewhere, just like with Nixon going to China. But, it sure appears that the Democrats, the Credentialed Media, and NeverTrumpers want this all to fail.
