Wednesday, October 11, 2006
What could it hurt?
My question to the Bush administration is, "why won't the president sit down with the North Koreans and call their bluff once and for all"? The same question applies to Iran. Both leaders of North Korea and Iran have said, over and over again, that they would welcome one on one dialogue with the United States as the only way they would consider altering their stance on the nuclear issue. Can we trust them to be speaking with straight tongue? Probably not, but what better way to find out for sure?
Both the North Korean and Irani leaders are posturing little despots looking to enhance their images as world players by sitting down at the negotiating table with the assumed leader of the free world. There are those who believe president Bush would lose face by doing this, but maybe, just maybe, it would be a gamble worth taking if it demonstrated to the world that the United States is willing to call a bluff in such a high stakes game. Not to do so would leave the impression that when all is said and done, we are not ready to go the extra mile to put diplomacy over rhetoric.
The ball is in Bush's court.
George Morin
Auburn, Ga,
[Note: This letter was published in USA Today on October 16.]
Both the North Korean and Irani leaders are posturing little despots looking to enhance their images as world players by sitting down at the negotiating table with the assumed leader of the free world. There are those who believe president Bush would lose face by doing this, but maybe, just maybe, it would be a gamble worth taking if it demonstrated to the world that the United States is willing to call a bluff in such a high stakes game. Not to do so would leave the impression that when all is said and done, we are not ready to go the extra mile to put diplomacy over rhetoric.
The ball is in Bush's court.
George Morin
Auburn, Ga,
[Note: This letter was published in USA Today on October 16.]
