Disarming North Korea?

Jim Yardley at the New York Times has reported on a tentative deal to begin disarming North Korea’s nuclear capacities. Chief American envoy Christopher R. Hill called the plan “an excellent draft” that could be confirmed very soon: the hearing will take place in Beijing and begins at approximately 8:30 p.m. CST. While the deal will be a huge first step in the disarmament process, it will only stop North Korea from developing more nuclear weapons. The weapons that are currently stockpiled will be addressed separately. The Bush administration hopes for a resolution in North Korea in order to allocate more brainpower to the Middle East, where they are struggling to come up with (i.e. invent) concrete ties between Iran and the violence in Iraq. Dan Froomkin outlines Sunday's “shaky” briefing for the Washington Post: "The administration finally unveiled its case this weekend, first in coordinated and anonymous leaks to a trusting New York Times reporter, then in an extraordinarily secretive military briefing at which no one would speak on the record, journalists weren't allowed to photograph the so-called evidence, and nothing even remotely like proof of direct Iranian government involvement was presented," Froomkin writes. Once the brainstorming process is finished, we’ll finally be able to get underway with 2007, also known as (in the words of Vice President Cheney's security advisor) “the year of Iran.” (This blog was written by publishing intern Brad Gardner)