N Korea talks limp to end with no prize for Bush

[sabra]

Source: ABC AU/Reuters

Talks pressing North Korea to abandon nuclear arms ambitions have limped through a fourth and final day, with envoys failing to make the progress that would have been a prize for the departing Bush administration.

Chief US negotiator Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who had said there had been no sign of agreement, was headed directly to the airport after the talks ended, the US embassy said.

...

Agreement on verification would open the way to dismantling North Korea's nuclear arms capacity and count as a welcome diplomatic trophy for US president George W Bush before he gives way to President-elect Barack Obama in January.

"Obviously we would like to see progress made on this verification protocol, and so far we haven't seen that," Mr Hill earlier told reporters.

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/12/2444362.htm?section=justin

[gratuitous]

1. Well, I don't think anyone could have foreseen this

I mean, negotiations went on for four whole days! That's four times as long as Bush's Fabulous Economic Summit in Waco, so that means it was four times more serious. And considering all that Bush accomplished for the economy out of Waco, how could four days of negotiations have been anything but a complete and utter success? It's obviously Obama's fault.

[jmowreader]

2. A fourth and final month wouldn't have changed this

Kim Jong Il is NOT going to give the man who branded him a member of some axis of evil a diplomatic triumph.

Wait till February. After Bush is back in Dallas, the DPRK might be amenable to talks.