So all through the Bush II years, I would look at Bill Clinton and think to myself of the final scene in the classic western "Shane" where the little boy is calling after the hero as he rides off into the sunset, "Shane! Come back!" But of course the hero doesn't come back. He just rides off into the mountains dangling his wounded arm. I was, of course, dreaming of having a competent President willing and capable of negotiating with our allies and enemies alike and get concessions from both. Now we have one in President Obama and I'm happy on the whole with his performance.
And then Bill Clinton travelled to North Korea and effectively rescued two journalists who have been imprisoned by the local whacko-in-chief. Way to go Mr. President!
Shane came back!!
6 comments:
There was surely an interesting behind-the-scenes tango between President Barack Obama, Former President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Former Vice-President Al Gore. The heavy hitters all came out for this one... All except Former President Jimmy Carter. It seems that the new team can handle these sorts of things now, without requiring Carter's assistance.
Jimmy Carter met with the North Koreans in 1994 and they broke their promises to him. That is the kind of thing that makes Jimmy Carter not want to return. He's also a much older man now whose desire for sudden trips to Asia has diminished. I doubt they decided to not use him for personal or policy reasons.
I would also bet that Bill went to collect the package, but that the real negotiations actually took place with the State Department.
I was impressed with how Clinton managed to remain low key. He didn't ham it up for the cameras and he seemed very careful to play his role as a somber messenger, not smiling or showing in pleasure.
I will admit that when I heard the story and when I saw the pictures of the 2 returning journalist, I was in tears. Can you imagine what it would be like to be put on trial, to be held for months wondering when they would ship you off to a camp, having no contact with anyone, and then suddenly to walk into the room and see Bill Clinton! God, what a rush.
No matter what, we still love Bubba. I was joking at work that imagine if instead of Bill, you got Dick Cheney! Yikes!
Notice that our negotiators are all Democrats: Carter, Clinton, Gore (whom the Koreans rejected), etc. Humm . . .
Yikes! If I saw Dick Cheney at my cell door, I'd probably figure I was a dead man.
If I saw Dick Cheney at my cell door, I'd beg to stay. I think we should offer up John Bolton as a candidate for any future prisoner exchange...he said we should have left the girls over there...who is this guy?
WW
Your'e absolutely right, I think, USWest, that this was negotiated by Hillary, not Bill. He was a convenient person to send, because (1) he's not official but (2) he's extremely well known to the North Koreans who, if they don't respect him, at least think of him as very important. Keep in mind that Korean culture is very much about respecting elders, and as a former president and elder statesman he may carry more weight with them than the current Sec of State.
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