Interestingly, Democrats are already starting to take over the job of President. Bush can't get anything done when it comes to North Korea. But in no time, Bill Richardson goes over there and negotiates a deal.
For those who only knows Richardson as a governor, keep in mind that he has diplomatic credentials: he has been US Ambassador to the UN under Clinton (back when we actually were respected in the world) and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times for his diplomatic efforts.
So, when Bush sent him to negotiate with North Korea [1] it was an almost unprecedented event in the Bush administration: a good idea. Richardson was supposedly going to negotiate the return of the remains of a US serviceman. Honestly that always sounded a bit odd. The fanfare was too much for that. Turns out he was negotiating getting inspectors back in. From KOBTV in New Mexico [2]:
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s visit to North Korea appears to be yielding unexpected fruit.
Richardson, part of a bipartisan delegation dispatched to North Korea to return remains of U.S. MIAs, appears to have secured a concession from the communist state on its developing nuclear weapons program.
Monday, a North Korean nuclear arms negotiator relayed to Richardson that the country would be willing to allow international U.N. arms inspectors into the country if some $25 million in North Korean money that has been frozen is released.
Meanwhile, Richardson will be joining the other Democratic candidates and Air America Radio and MoveOn.org in a virtual Town Hall event to discuss Iraq. You can join in through a MoveOn.org event near you [3], or through Air America radio [4] 7:15-8:45 EST. You can also read Richardson's plan for Iraq .
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