Jimmy Carter turns up in the pages of the New York Times this morning to pat himself on the back for having “solved” the NorKo nuclear crisis back in 1994. Of course, Carter implies that the whole thing is George W. Bush’s fault for having called the Norks bad names (“axis of evil”). It is a classic example of Carter’s delusional state of mind.
Just deconstruct this graph, for example:
Responding to an invitation from President Kim Il-sung of North Korea, and with the approval of President Bill Clinton, I went to Pyongyang and negotiated an agreement under which North Korea would cease its nuclear program at Yongbyon and permit inspectors from the atomic agency to return to the site to assure that the spent fuel was not reprocessed. It was also agreed that direct talks would be held between the two Koreas
Where to start. “an invitation from Kim Il Sung.” Yes, and why do you suppose he wanted Carter so badly? “. . . with the approval of Bill Clinton. . .” Accuracy demands that it read “with the reluctant approval of Bill Clinton.” Carter actually presented Clinton with a fait accompli – Carter told the White House was going to go hold hands with the Norks whether Clinton approved or not. Clinton, by the way, was furious with the outcome, which Carter announced on CNN before he told the White House. Clinton told Warren Christopher that Carter was to be stopped from making any further freelance trips of this kind. “It was also agreed that direct talks be held between the two Koreas.” The Norks demanded a multi-million dollar payment from the South Koreans just to show up for the talks. In other words, the Norks turned it into a Jesse Jackson-style shakedown operation.
But remember–Jimmy is our best ex-president ever.