Article: The US Policy of Refusing to Negotiate

In a UN meeting yesterday on the statement that North Korea is preparing to test a nuclear weapon, The Chinese Peoples Daily said that Ambassador Kenzo Oshima of Japan said that the UN would hold "expert" talks today on the subject. Meanwhile, Japan also stressed that the DPRK should return to the six-party talks.

As the world moves closer to a confrontation with North Korea, US Ambassador John Bolton, said that there are "divisions" in the council. The Ambassador from Russia, Vitaly Chirkin said that the council was unanimous in it's decision to meet this crisis and was very much "surprised" at Bolton's comments.

At this particular point, even if there are "divisions" within the council at this early stage, it does no good for Ambassador Bolton to start a pointing finger at members of the council. This administration must learn that it's "go it alone" strategy has left the United States in a position of isolation, not engagement, on the world's political stage. To start casting blame, as if the work of The Security Council has already failed, is a political maneuver that the United States cannot afford, looking at it's precarious military options in the region.

The Security Council warned the DPRK that serious consequences could result saying that; "It also warned that if the DPRK ignores the calls of the international community, the Council will "act consistent with its primary responsibility under the Charter of the United Nations." This is a strong statement by the Security Council, and the U.S. should consider, that at this point in the game, that any help we get from the UN would be advantageous. The Russian Ambassador even went on to say that one-on-one talks with North Korea might help to ease the tensions on the peninsula, but up until now, this administration's total refusal to engage in any dialog with any nation that it is at swords point with the United States, makes that suggestion hopeless. Our nation at this point, does not rely on dialog to encourage other nations to come to our point of view, it always opts for a show of force and threats. This is not just this writer's opinion, it is borne out by the countless statements made by this President and all that serve in his administration. We have a policy of telling other nations that they should submit to our demands before we will even consider going to the table. This has brought no fruit in the diplomatic arena.

Congress has a responsibility to oversee the actions of the Executive branch. It has up until this point given this President Carte Blanche to do as it wishes due to the Republican majority in both houses. It is a mistake to let party loyalty get in the way of Congress's responsibilities, but this is the way the political game is played these days. Since 9/11 it has almost been considered treason to disagree with the policies of this administration. I hope that we still have time to put a Democratic majority in the House, that will stand up to this administrations reckless foreign policy, before this nation engages in another bloody conflict that might have been prevented with strong negotiators and constructive engagement.