Courting Kim
President Bush's chief spokesman yesterday ridiculed President Clinton's attempts to win hearts and minds in Pyongyang, saying efforts to woo North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il "with flowers and chocolates" failed.
Tony Snow told reporters that Bill Richardson, who was Mr. Clinton's U.N. ambassador, "went with flowers and chocolates, and he went with light-water nuclear reactors, and he went with promises of heavy oil, and a basketball signed by Michael Jordan, and many other inducements for the 'dear leader' to try to agree not to develop nuclear weapons, and it failed."
"We've learned from that mistake," Mr. Snow said.
Jay Carson, a spokesman for the former president, was not amused.
"This is a serious issue for global security, and it's unfortunate that the Bush administration's TV spinmaster is manufacturing excuses for North Korea's transgressions instead of looking at the last six years of inaction and the abandonment of diplomacy," he said. |
