International Herald Tribune Editorial - The lesson of North Korea

International Herald Tribune Editorial - The lesson of North Korea
Copyright by The International Herald Tribune
Published: February 14, 2007


It is welcome news that North Korea has agreed to move toward dismantling its nuclear weapons program in exchange for fuel oil and international acceptance — including the hope of eventual recognition by the United States. When dealing with Pyongyang (and for that matter, the Bush administration), a lot can slip betwixt the cup and the lip. But if all goes as agreed, the world will be safer.

The obvious question to ask is: What took so long? And even more important: Will President George W. Bush learn from this belated success? Will he finally allow his diplomats to try negotiation and even compromise with other bad and undeniably dangerous governments?

Bush could probably have gotten this deal years ago, except that he decided he didn't have to talk to anyone he didn't like. So long as the White House refused to talk, North Korea churned out plutonium.

And once American negotiators were finally allowed to mix their sanctions with sanity and seriously negotiate, they struck a deal.

We'll overlook the irony of this administration, which considers the word multilateral an epithet, insisting on Tuesday that Bush had not compromised on anything because the Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans and Russians were also involved.

There are still a lot of negotiations to come before North Korea disarms — and no guarantees. If the past is prelude, it will try to reopen the bidding or try to squirrel away a few nuclear weapons or their makings. Its closest neighbors, China and South Korea, which have been enabling Pyongyang for years, will try to excuse any backsliding. So the Bush administration will have to be the deal's lead enforcer. For that, its behavior needs to be above reproach. Bush should start by ordering his aides to embrace the triumph of diplomacy, no matter how much it pains them.

As for the lessons to be learned, there are a lot of other bad actors out there with whom Bush is still refusing to speak. Iran is resisting the White House's saber rattling. Bush could test Tehran by including it in a regional conference to discuss how to contain Iraq's chaos. And it would certainly enliven the discussion on Iran's nuclear program if the White House suggested that it would drop its plans for regime change once and for all and move toward diplomatic recognition if Tehran would control its nuclear appetites.

And there are others, like Syria, which might — with the right incentives — be persuaded to rethink its ill-begotten friendships with Hezbollah and Tehran.

We are not saying that all of these governments will respond, even to a cold calculation of their own interests. But this administration has not tried to find out.

There will be a lot of talk in Washington about Bush salvaging a failing presidency. We don't want to take away from the glow. But there are a lot of other dangers out there. And we hope that Bush learns the most basic lesson of this week's deal: Sometimes you really do have to talk to your enemies, even if you have to grit your teeth.