Neocons Blast Rice Over North Korea, Iran

Condoleezza Rice is under heavy attack from the neoconservatives for talking turkey with the remaining two members of the Axis of Evil.

First, on North Korea, the 'cons are apoplectic over the emerging deal with North Korea. The news, of course, is that North Korea is cooperating in earnest on resolving the remaining questions on its nuclear program, and so President Bush is easing sanctions on North Korea and taking the country off the State Department's list of "terrorist"-sponsoring nations.

The Rosett Report, the blog of Claudia Rosett (a favorite at the Weekly Standard and the American Enterprise Institute) blasts Rice for her op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. In the op-ed, entitled "Diplomacy Is Working on North Korea," Rice says:

It may be the case that North Korea does not want to give up its nuclear weapons and programs. That is a real possibility. But we should test it, and the best way to do that is through the six-party framework. Is it right to proceed cautiously? Absolutely. But in the final calculation, do we think our current policy is better than the alternatives? Yes, we do. We believe that the six-party framework is the best way to learn more about the threat posed by this closed and opaque regime, and ultimately, together with partners, to eliminate North Korea's nuclear weapons and programs.

But Rosett, reflecting the general sense of outrage among the neocons, goes way over the top, even for her ilk:

The lesson to date is that America, faced with nuclear blackmail, will bow down, dignify and fortify tyrants, fork over loot, and celebrate the process as a victory for diplomacy. Were North Korea to detonate a nuclear bomb over Los Angeles tomorrow, I start to wonder if Condi Rice and Chris Hill, would describe the cataclysm as "troubling" and then re-cast it as a candid and informative addendum to North Korea's promised declaration of its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, on Iran, Rice gets it in the neck from none other than the Prince of Darkness himself, Richard Perle. In a Post op-ed, Perle blasts Rice for her diplomacy with Iran:

The secretary of state, whose born-again multilateralism has redeemed her standing at the State Department and among our allies, can rightly claim to have forged a coalition on Iran. But ... Rice's coalition has failed to slow, much less halt, Iran's unrelenting nuclear weapons program or diminish its support for terrorist groups.

The coalition that Rice thinks a success ... is, at best, a "do nothing decisive" group, with at least half its members -- Germany, Russia and China -- maneuvering for self-serving advantage in their dealings with the mullahs in Iran.

Like the rest of the 'cons, Perle wants a showdown with Iran, and it's looking less and less like he's going to get one. How else to understand the likelihood that the United States is angling to open a US interests section in Tehran for the first time since the embassy was seized in 1979?

Though the White House is playing it down, there are persistent reports that the State Department is getting ready to make just such a move. Iran, for its part, has welcomed the idea.

Both Pyongyang and Tehran are probably thanking their lucky stars that President Bush invaded the Iraq part of the "Axis of Evil," since now are they not only off the hook, but they're actually talking turkey with the turkey in the White House.

Comments (9)

1. Heh. They're starting to eat their own.

   Posted by Balrog at 06/26/2008 @ 1:46pm

2. I CAN'T WAIT ....to see LVLIB's (or PONTI's) take on this one.

   Suddenly the "Axis of Evil"...ain't so evil anymore to ol' Dubya, is it?

   Posted by Mask at 06/26/2008 @ 3:08pm

3. Is Rice running for Vice President?

   These are good moves, and I applaud them heartily.

   Change the world can believe in...;^)

   Maybe Obama's 'effects' are already being realized!

   Posted by ttr at 06/26/2008 @ 5:14pm

4. Is this the proverbial puzzle inside a mystery wrapped in an enigma? Nah. It's Rice reading the handwriting on the Great Wall of China. In the compelling likelihood that Obama is elected president in 4 months, she wants to redeem a shred of multilateral foreign policy credibility after 8 years serving the "King of Evildoers", not only with the likely incoming Democratic foreign policy crew but with her international contacts as well.

   It appears Dubya is going along, perhaps for the same reasons, although his hope of rescuing his reputation is on par with turning swords into plowshares...it's not happenin'.

   She may not want to disappear down the rathole of failed neocon militarism with the rest of these warmongering cretins like Perle, Wolfowitz, Kristol, Rosett, et al.(every week a new one comes out from under some rock to spout their fearmongering hyperbole about North Korea or Iran dropping a bomb on LA or Vegas). A year from now, they'll be discredited relics auto-stimulating themselves on Fox News and CNN, and hopefully no where else.

   Rice may want to continue to enjoy her hard-won legitimacy on the world stage, notwithstanding her cascade of failures and lies pre-post 9/11 and beyond. She may be the most ineffectual Secretary of State since the white-haired guy who shined Henry Kissinger's shoes (William something?), but she is African-American, Republican, and plays the piano, so who knows where she can go from here?

   When "Uncle Fester" McCain goes down in November, the GOP is wide open for 2012, and 4 years of distance from Darth Vadar and Co. may make her a viable candidate for VP or even president, especially if Obama blows it.

   We shall see. Condi is no Dummy, even if she's worked for one so long. She could morph herself into Colin Powell in ice skates and a tutu.

   Posted by stonecutter at 06/26/2008 @ 6:35pm

5. I don't think the Secretary of State goes off negotiating with foreign governments without the permission and support of the President. Bush is worrying about his legacy. Why aren't these shrill neo-con writers complaining about these actions as actions of the Bush administration? They can't attack their fair-haired boy so they attack Rice.

   Posted by tigerlily55 at 06/27/2008 @ 07:16am

6. Why aren't these shrill neo-con writers complaining about these actions as actions of the Bush administration?

   Posted by tigerlily55 at 06/27/2008 @ 07:16am

   <sputter> Why? BECAUSE WE ARE AT WAR!!!

   COLONEL Whose side are you on, son?

   JOKER Our side, sir.

   COLONEL Don't you love your country?

   JOKER Yes,sir.

   COLONEL Then how about getting with the program?

   Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?

   JOKER Yes, sir!

   COLONEL Son, all I've ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.

   Posted by Balrog at 06/27/2008 @ 07:29am

7. Posted by Balrog at 06/27/2008 @ 07:29am

   Great movie.

   Posted by Benchrest at 06/27/2008 @ 10:09am

8. We shall see. Condi is no Dummy, even if she's worked for one so long. She could morph herself into Colin Powell in ice skates and a tutu.

   Posted by stonecutter at 06/26/2008 @ 6:35pm

   That's a scary picture you just painted their stonecutter.

   Posted by Wolfgang1 at 06/27/2008 @ 10:16am

9. She wishes, and most likely will be the next NFL Commissioner. Her words.

   Posted by Benchrest at 06/27/2008 @ 10:21am