Wednesday, August 27, 2003

[9:00 AM] With multiparty talks between China, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Russian, and North Korea set to begin today over the DPRK’s nuclear program, it seems there’s no room in the Bush State Department for dissenters (or is that people who keep all options open?).

Jack Pritchard, the special envoy for negotiations with North Korea, is departing at a critical moment, days before six-nation talks begin in China to pressure North Korea to drop its efforts to reprocess spent fuel rods for weapons. He was criticized last week by a senator for being out of sync with the administration's policy.

[…]

But North Korea experts said Mr. Pritchard was known to be uncomfortable with the evolving American policy. A 28-year veteran of the Army, Mr. Pritchard was a driving force behind President Clinton's trip to Vietnam in 2000, and he accompanied Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright to North Korea for meetings with Kim Jong Il that year.

Wouldn’t want someone like that around would we? That might lead to a breakthrough. Then John Bolton would have to move on to name calling elsewhere.

# posted 9:01 AM