Talk is Cheap, but Also Dangerous with North Korea, Iran

Madeline Albright Toasts Kim Jong Il.

Madeline Albright Greets Kim Jong Il.

Madleine Albright Walks with Kim Jong Il.

Madleine Albright wants to know where she can buy one of those zipper suits.

Madeline and Kim Jong Il do Jello shooters.

North Korea is threatening to detonate a nuclear weapon unless the United States enters into direct talks with the crazy Stalinist regime.

Predictably, Democrats are knocking each other over as they rush to the microphones and television cameras to echo North Korea's demand.

"Talk to North Korea" they say. Talk, talk, talk...

It seems everyone ignores the fact that we HAVE talked to the North Koreans, as recently as last October, as part of the six nation framework to deal with the problem.

And of course the same people demanding talks that exclude allies like Japan and South Korea, and strategic competitors like China and Russia have been shouting the loudest that the U.S. should not act "unilaterally."

Talk, Dance, Eat, Drink with North Korea: How'd That Work Out?

Last time we did the direct talk, talk, talk routine between the U.S. and North Korea, we ended up agreeing to provide the Stalinist regime food aid which freed up millions of dollars for North Korea's crazy dictator to spend on "other" needs.

We also provided BILLIONS of dollars to build two nuclear power plants, which we presumed would take away any desire for North Korea to develop it's own nuclear technology.

As soon as the $$$ started flowing, North Korea began cheating on the agreements.

In July's Mike's America, I presented a more comprehensive examination of the history of this problem in a post titled: "North Korea, Talk About Problems or SOLVE Them?" In that post, I also recommended the Council on Foreign Relations summary of the North Korean nuke problem.

There is nothing to be gained from direct talks between the U.S. and North Korea outside the already agreed framework for Six Nation talks.

Doing so would undermine the previous agreement to a nuclear free Korean peninsula and reward nuclear blackmail.

With the exception of North Korea, you'll notice you don't hear a clamor from the other parties to those talks supporting bilateral negotiations outside that process.

North Korea presents some difficult diplomatic and political problems that won't be made better by appeasing a regime that has been shown to lie and cheat as soon as the ink was dry on previous agreements.