North Korea Nuke Talks Collapse

Call it vindication, of a sort. Bush was always skeptical that talking would lead to North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons plans. And the North Korean despot Kim Jung Il has proved him right. As the Bush administration enters its final days, the communist tyrant has called off the long-running talks in Beijing that would have led to him giving up his nukes. “What’s unfortunate is that the North Koreans had an opportunity here,” said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino. “There was an open door, and all they had to do was walk through it.” Kim is hoping he will get a softer deal from the Obama administration. It will be one of the first tests for the new president, who won the White House on a promise to talk to dictators, and his new secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who said talking to tyrants is a bad idea. Whose view prevails will be an early indication of whether the Obama/Clinton partnership will work.