By Rich Lowry,Real Clear Politics
North Korea's Emperor has no clothes
Pres. Barack Obama added a line at the last minute that wasn’t in the prepared text of his nuclear-disarmament speech in Prague:“I’m not naïve.”
He needed the disclaimer because,nearly simultaneously with his speech embracing the goal of eliminating all nuclear weapons,Kim Jong Il launched a three-stage rocket over Japan. Coincidence? “I hate to speculate about North Korean motivations,” said Gary Samore,the very mannerly White House coordinator for nonproliferation — as if speculation were necessary.
North Korea’s diplomatic and economic strategy for two decades has been to engage in spectacular acts of international malfeasance to bully and cajole the world into concessions and aid. In between provocations,Pyongyang has promised several times over to abandon its nuclear program. It has never truly given it up,lest it lose its most prized bargaining chip.