Most likely, millions of tax dollars are now in Lil' Kim's hand for him to buy more Hollywood Blue Ray discs.
Talks for secret mission to North Korea began once journalists were seized, sources say http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-north-korea-tictoc5-2009aug05,0,2496220.story Negotiations have been spurred by hopes that disarmament talks could be restarted. The North sought a high-level emissary in exchange for the journalists, whose release was announced today. By Paul Richter Reporting from Washington -- The negotiations that led to former President Clinton's secret mission to North Korea began as soon as two U.S. journalists were seized by the isolated Stalinist state, and have been spurred on by the administration's hope that they might lead to a resumption of gridlocked disarmament talks, according to people close to the process. The goal was a specific deal: If the United States showed respect by dispatching a high-level emissary to Pyongyang, the North would release journalists Laura Ling and Eun Lee, who were arrested along the border with China on March 17. "This has been an orchestrated diplomatic process, carefully calibrated in both capitals," said a person who has been close to the exchanges since they began. He asked for anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue. The mission appeared headed for a successful conclusion today, as North Korean media announced that the regime would release the two women, who were expected to join the former president in a flight back to the United States. A large number of respected figures volunteered to be the envoy, including Clinton; former Vice President Al Gore, who is co-founder of the media company that employs the two women; Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John F. Kerry (D-Mass.); New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; and former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Donald P. Gregg. But it became clear that Clinton was the best choice. He presided over a long thaw in relations between the U.S. and North Korea as president in the 1990s and is one of the most important American visitors to the North since his secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, traveled there in 2000. Clinton was eager for the role. He had been urged to take on the mission in May, when he met in Seoul with Kim Dae Jung, the former South Korean president who had worked with Clinton while both were in office to carry out a "sunshine policy" with the North. "He was a perfect choice, and a safe choice," said Charles L. Pritchard, a former U.S. negotiator with North Korea. "He'd handled tough North Korea issues before, and he wasn't going to go off and do something that the secretary of State wouldn't like." Although Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made repeated public appeals for the women's release, the negotiations were handled primarily -- like much of the Obama administration's foreign policy -- by senior White House aides. They included retired Gen. James L. Jones, the national security advisor; Thomas E. Donilon, one of Jones' deputies; and Jeffrey Bader, the top National Security Council expert on the region. ------------=======---------------- Ouch on the dig at Hillary in the last paragraph.
If Obama promised to let them continue their nuclear program and provide help, would everybody still be happy the reporters got released? I think not. The only reason Kim wanted a high level official was to get something back in return.
I really restrained myself from the obvious missile comparison jokes, but now I'm left asking myself... why?
Send Michael Jordan over there. I'm not kidding. Kim Jong-Il is a huge fan of his Airness. Obama can offer Kim the chance to play 21 with him and Jordan in exchange for the elimination of their nuclear program.
I never really had much sympathy for these reporters. Why do we care about them so much? They willingly took the risk of entering North Korea when pretty much any American would know that they'd be sentenced to prison (or worse) if caught.
First, there is not chance in hell that aforementioned deal was ever something considered. Secondly, this was all orchestrated from the very beginning. Kim Jung Il knew they were not getting the attention they wanted from their saber rattling, and needed a way to make nice. The only thing that North Korea gets out of this situation outright is the opportunity to save face.
I wouldn't say i didn't have any sympathy for them but they should have known better than to go anywhere near the NK boarder. Same goes for those tourists in Iraq. How much money was spent trying to get them released? I think they (or the company they work for) should have to pay some kind of fine.
It's rumored that samples from Jay Z's "Big Pimpin" spontaneously accompany Bill Clinton wherever he goes.
Wow look at Laura Ling and the other journalist just milking it. They are loving it. This kind of stuff happens every day to people who don't work for Al Gore. It would have been classier if they didn't make a huge media circus out of this.
wow, the wingnuts are out on this one. lets just forget the fact that one president did allow them to develop their program with his cowboy diplomacy.
Yeah, I'd sure hate to have someone who's competent, experienced, and honorable in office. Then maybe we wouldn't have a 2 trillion budget deficit, a weakened stance in foreign relations, and the threat of taking our healthcare away from us...
