Flashback: As Governor, Bush Said, ‘Why Should I Care About North Korea?’
Flashback: As Governor, Bush Said, ‘Why Should I Care About North Korea?’
Today, President Bush announced that North Korea has turned over a statement describing its nuclear program, prompting Bush to lift sanctions and rescind its designation as a state sponsor of terror. The news is a step “toward reintegration into the world community and rapprochement with the United States,” the New York Times observed.
But the developments come after seven wasted years by the Bush administration. In his book, State of Denial, Bob Woodward reported that in a conversation between then-Gov. George W. Bush and former Saudi ambassador Prince Bandar, Bush wondered why North Korea even mattered:
George W. pulled Bandar aside.
“Bandar, I guess you’re the best asshole who knows about the world. Explain to me one thing.”
“Governor, what is it?”
“Why should I care about North Korea?”
Bandar said he didn’t really know. It was one of the few countries that he did not work on for King Fahd.
“I get these briefings on all parts of the world,” Bush said, “and everybody is talking to me about North Korea.”
Through aggressive diplomacy, President Clinton reached the Agreed Framework in 1994, under which North Korea agreed to freeze nuclear production for the next eight years. In 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the administration will “pick up where President Clinton left off.” But Bush objected to returning to Clinton’s diplomatic approach. A quick recap of what followed:
January 2002: Bush labels North Korea a member of the “Axis of Evil.”
December 2003. Vice President Cheney: “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it.”
April 2005: North Korea appears to unload nuclear reactor with up to another 15 kg of weapons-grade plutonium.
October 2006: North Korea tests nuclear bomb.
The Bush White House accused Clinton of sending “flowers and chocolates” and instead took Cheney’s hard line. In fact, Bush once shouted to Woodward, “I loathe Kim Jong Il!” and mocked the dictator at a dinner with senators, calling him a “pygmy.” In the meantime, North Korea continued to acquire greater nuclear ability.
Today, the Bush administration still refuses to use similar diplomacy with Iran. As blogger Steve Clemons noted, “We ‘engaged’ North Korea and blew it with Iran.”
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let’s read the body language in that photo. notice who is sitting in the dominant position and who is the lower ranking monkey…legs crossed protecting his little boy bits — just like tucker carlson…
June 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pmWho IS that guy in the corner at the country club, smoking and drinking his martini and making snide comments at everybody?
I think he’s from Connecticut and went to Yale.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:33 pmRevision:
George W. pulled Bandar aside.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:35 pm“Why should I care about North Korea? They ain’t got no oil fields.”
December 2003. Vice President Cheney: “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it.”
Apparently not. Six years later, and we’re fighting ‘evil’ boogeymen still in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Clearly the only thing Bush/Cheney can defeat is the Constitution…
June 26th, 2008 at 1:40 pmC’mon TP, don’t hold my post hostage over a**hole, considering it’s in the quote you used.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:44 pmDon’t forget David Zucker’s Albright video!
There much more to this story. Clinton’s Agreed Framework started falling apart when Congress refused to fund light water reactors for North Korea as part of the deal. With no assistance forthcoming NorK struck out on its own. Consessions on our part will probably resemble Clinton’s Agreed Framework. Fred Kaplan at Slate.com has followed this development for years.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:44 pmIs there any doubt who won the poker game here ??!!
Kim Jong did not lose a damn thing in the game but gained a lot.
He made threats to make a nuclear bomb and he made one…
He got aid from USA,
He is taken of the list of terrorist nations.
Sanctions will be lifted.
Bush for years called N. Korea a member of Axis Of Evil which was useful to speeches only but never went beyond to scare Kim Jong.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:46 pmseriously, he called him an “a$$hole”?
that is too funny.
I would have cut his cocaine with PCP if I were Bandar. “call me an a$$hole, I’ll show you…”
June 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pmunbelievable Says: December 2003. Vice President Cheney: “We don’t negotiate with evil; we defeat it.”
I thought those were some choice words too.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:49 pmEspecially coming from a guy who doesn’t have the physical ability to defeat a wet paper bag.
Oh, my God. Is there no end to the utter humiliation that is the Chimpy pResiduncy????
Jebus. Pass me my Unknown American bag, would you please??
*cringing*
June 26th, 2008 at 1:51 pmThere were plenty of things bush said as gov that totally oppose what he’s said as prez. The Daily Show had a real good debate between the two. bush is the ultimate flip-flopper POS.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:52 pmBush for years called N. Korea a member of Axis Of Evil which was useful to speeches only but never went beyond to scare Kim Jong.
Correction: Bush called NK an axis of evil so that WE would be scared. It was another false ‘boogey man’ Bush used to cajole us into accepting his version of democracy. The neocons find it easier to rape our treasury and reshape our political world if we all hide under our beds.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:52 pmRepublicans use fear as a political manipulation device.
That, by definition makes them:
TERRORISTS
Off to Gitmo with the lot of ‘em
June 26th, 2008 at 1:55 pmKeith H. Says: I thought those were some choice words too.
Especially coming from a guy who doesn’t have the physical ability to defeat a wet paper bag.
I’m not a believer in a ‘force of evil’, with the one exception - the Dick-tator Cheney himself.
I’d love to see a psychologist release an report on his mental state. Bet they could name a few new mental disorders after him.
June 26th, 2008 at 1:59 pmPathetic. bush is grasping at straws just to be able to claim something he touched wasn’t a complete & total failure.
No matter that this is really just one more major failure… he’ll pretend this was what he wanted all along.
bush found that antagonizing Iran is much more financially profitable for his buddies anyway…. they don’t need NK as a scapegoat anymore.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:00 pmHe had to ask…?
June 26th, 2008 at 2:02 pmClinton got a blowjob.
Bush blew the job.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:07 pmactually, Bush and Kim Jong Il are much alike. They are both petty. They both are dictators (in dubya’s head). And they both prefer to use fear instead of logic to convince scared little sissy rubes like you into letting them rob you blind.
But you already knew that.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:10 pmHey, don’t miss the forest through the trees here. Why has this President not lifted a finger against any of this:
http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com
15 Saudi hijackers murder 3,000 Americans on live TV, and we don’t do a damn thing about it. Why is that? Might it have something to do with the fact that our beloved President gets his foreign policy advise (even on North Korea!) from “Bandar Bush”?
Indeed, on September 13, 2001, the day BEFORE he deigned to grace the 9/11 rescue workers with his presence in that famous bullhorn photo-op, he had a three hour private dinner date with good ol’ Prince Bandar. Is it any wonder that these people continue to get away with murder?
June 26th, 2008 at 2:17 pmrogerse Says:
June 26th, 2008 at 2:43 pm——————————————————————————–
so the only thing wrong with bush and north korea is a one-line statement he gave 7 years ago.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:05 pm Recommend (0) | Report Abuse
Wow, Rogers. Wow. Seriously. Wow. Hmmm. Wow.
Were your parents related?
A bit of a quibble about your timeline. I believe the defining factor in the disintegration of the Agreed Framework was when the Bush admn accused NK of secretly enriching uranium. Ironically, NK still has not disclosed details of this program in spite of their improved status with the Bush admn.
June 26th, 2008 at 2:49 pmLet’s not forget about chimpy’s cowardly tactic of insisting on hiding behind “six party talks” instead of engaging North Korea directly. Not only did that hinder talks as we knew the irrational Kim Jong Il insisted on direct talks but it made it look like the US was hiding behind China (mainly) and Japan instead of taking the initiative. Ironic how an insufferable bully like Bush has diminished the US brand so badly with such counterproductive moves.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:08 pmThe breakthrough in the negotiations with NK was not the result of six party talks, but a one on one visit to NK by US top negotiator Christopher Hill. He is one of very few bright spots in a wholly dismal admn.
June 26th, 2008 at 3:20 pmWhy in the hell does no one seem to remember that even after declaring North Korea a member of the “Axis of Evil”, the Bush administration went on to both pay the country the $95 million promised them under the 1994 Agreed Framework while simultaneously lifting the requirement that the country allow for inspections of nuclear facilities?
June 26th, 2008 at 3:29 pmPrince Bandar it the “best A-hole who knows about the world?”
Maybe they were sharing notes about torture. Otherwise how is a pampered Saudi prince an authority on anything except pumping and selling oil?
June 26th, 2008 at 3:58 pmAs Governor, Bush Said, ‘Why Should I Care About North Texas?’
Bandar said he didn’t really know. It was one of the few counties that he did not work on for King Fahd.
June 26th, 2008 at 11:53 pm