Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
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Sen. Schumer’s principles for a US-North Korea summit

Sen. Chuck Schumer and other leading Democrats have laid down the conditions for a successful US-North Korea summit. If they are not met, said Schumer, then President Trump should not expect support from Senate Democrats for any agreement he reaches.

These are Schumer’s conditions:

North Korea must destroy all of its nuclear, biological and chemical weapons; must end the production and enrichment of nuclear materials; must close down its ballistic missile program; must allow robust inspections; and, the agreement must be permanent.

Sen. Schumer and his fellow Democratic leaders are right on target. Without insisting that North Korea meet all these conditions, in return for an end to its isolation and a massive influx of foreign aid, then the US will once again have been hoodwinked by North Korea.

One question: Where were Sen. Schumer and his fellow Democratic leaders when these very conditions were no less indispensable during President Obama’s negotiations with Iran?

Why was it OK, in the negotiations with Iran, not to insist that it end its ballistic missile program?

Why was it OK, in the negotiations with Iran, not to insist on robust inspections?

Why was an impermanent agreement with Iran OK, but an impermanent agreement with North Korea is not OK?

Why does Senate leader Schumer threaten Trump with a lack of support in the USSenate if Schumer’s conditions for a successful summit are  not met; while Obama’s refusal even to submit the Iran agreement to the US Senate met with no objection from the Democratic leadership at the time?

Why is President Trump held to different standards than President Obama was?

The partisanship in Schumer’s demands does not diminish their validity. Better late than never. Schumer’s conditions must be integral to a North Korea deal, just as they should have been in the Iran deal, and should govern any renegotiation of that deal.

If, on both sides of the aisle, Senators and Congresspeople have spotted the disastrous loopholes in the Iran deal, and no longer will tolerate them in a North Korea deal, so much the better. Meanwhile, we pray for true success in the upcoming summit.

Copyright © 2018 by the Intermountain Jewish News




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