Jimmy Carter Explains It All

Following their obvious violations of the treaties he engineered, treaties which gave the North Koreans much, and gave the US and her allies nothing but empty promises, one would think the author of such a treaty would feel a tad embarrassed. After all, under his reassurance the Western world did nothing while the North Koreans continued to pursue a nuclear weapons program and now are poised to destroy millions.  It is clear that the man's negotiations have placed the entire Asian theater under the pall of nuclear destruction.

Well, with Jimmy Carter we are dealing with a sort of Bizarro president, where everything is opposite of what one might expect from a sane, rational, thoughtful leader. Thus, following North Korea's unprovoked violently lethal shelling of a South Korean island, with the death of four and the threatened death of millions more, up pops the former president and peanut farmer to offer this:

"No one can completely understand the motivations of the North Koreans, but it is entirely possible that their recent revelation of their uranium enrichment centrifuges and Pyongyang's shelling of a South Korean island Tuesday are designed to remind the world that they deserve respect in negotiations that will shape their future."

No one can understand the North Koreans? I would suggest that many people understand the North Koreans, but that you would not be among their number. Perhaps your negotiations ended disastrously because they presented themselves as they knew you expected them to be? Perhaps you were made game of? Is it possible that you have yet to realize the obvious?

"Ultimately, the choice for the United States may be between diplomatic niceties and avoiding a catastrophic confrontation."

Diplomatic niceties have not proven helpful. Best scratch that one off your playlist. By appeasing the North Koreans, you have doomed us to the confrontation, the violence of which has escalated a thousand fold by the nuclear weapons whose existence is a direct result of your negotiations.

"The North's technological capabilities under conditions of severe sanctions and national poverty are surprising."

Jimmy, next time some fool president asks you to go abroad to fix an international crisis that he bungled himself into, please, tell him you are now retired and have no role in such things. Better still Jimmy, don't answer the phone at all.