Op-Ed Contributor - North Korea's Stacked Deck

By Art Brown
Published July 15, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/opinion/15brown.html?scp=2&sq=north%20korea&st=cse

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"If this were high-stakes poker, the North Koreans would be biting their lips to hide their smiles at the cards in their hands.

"As it stands now, we have agreed to ship North Korea a million new tons of fuel oil, released Mr. Kim from the handcuffs of our Trading With the Enemy Act, and — within the legally mandated 45 days — will throw in other goodies that come with removing North Korea from the State Department’s state-sponsor-of-terrorism list. This comes on top of the American decision last year to allow the North Koreans to transfer their tainted money out of a bank in Macao.

"But the topper is that Kim Jong-il knows he still gets to keep his stockpile of plutonium and even hang on to his existing rack of nuclear weapons (minus the one he tested in October 2006 to set the tone of the game)."

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