White House Press Secretary Tony Snow today summed up the Clinton Administration's policy on North Korea as a series of gifts including flowers, chocolates, and Michael Jordan autographs, RAW STORY has learned.
Transcript follows:
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SNOW: Well, this is not the Clinton administration policy. I understand what the Clinton administration wanted to do. They wanted to talk reason to the government in Pyongyang, and they engaged in bilateral conversations. And Bill Richardson went with flowers and chocolates, and he went with light-water nuclear reactors, and he went with promises of heavy oil, and a basketball signed by Michael Jordan, and many other inducements for the "dear leader" to try to agree not to develop nuclear weapons, and it failed. But there was at least a good-faith effort on the part of some very smart people to use that as an approach.
We've learned from that mistake. One reason not to go bilateral with the North Koreans is what we're seeing right now, which is that you need to have concerted pressure, especially from those who have very close and ongoing ties with the government of North Korea, so that you can get results. So this is not a continuation of the Clinton program.
