Thursday, May 17, 2018

Amateur gamesmanship

Melissa McEwan of Shakesville quotes from Anna Fifield at The Washington Post. Here’s just a bit:
North Korea is rapidly moving the goal posts for next month's summit between leader Kim Jong Un and [Donald] Trump, saying the United States must stop insisting it "unilaterally" abandon its nuclear program and stop talking about a Libya-style solution to the standoff.
That “Libya-style solution” refers to Moammar Gaddafi who gave up nukes for sanctions relief – and was overthrown and assassinated a few years later. I’m sure Kim is saying no thanks.

Now add to that the nasty guy pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, demonstrating he won’t respect deals.

McEwan comments:
But neither party in this summit are actually interested in the ostensible goal of the summit, anyway. Kim wants legitimacy — an objective to which he's gotten closer care of Trump even agreeing to the summit, irrespective of whether it now happens. Trump and Bolton want an excuse to launch a preemptive strike on North Korea …

Kim wants Trump to keep demanding denuclearization, so he can have an excuse to walk away from the summit. Trump wants Kim to walk away from the summit, so he can have an excuse for war.

That isn't diplomacy. It's amateur gamesmanship from two of the most erratic, unreliable, egomaniacal, dangerous leaders on the planet.

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