Bolton: Korea Deal Should Go to the Senate for Approval

National Security Adviser John Bolton was on a couple of the Sunday shows today. He said some very interesting things about the possibility of North Korea denuclearizing and what that would mean.

Permanent, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization has to happen before any benefits start to flow to North Korea. “We want to see the denuclearization process so completely underway that it’s irreversible.” -John Bolton pic.twitter.com/1rESP6QaLV

— Security Studies Group (@SecStudiesGrp) May 13, 2018

This is a key point. The left and the NeverTrump people are already pushing the line that the talks with North Korea are basically the same as Obama’s talks with Iran and it is hypocritical of Trump to withdraw from one deal and make another just like it. That argument is fatuous bullsh** but that is really all these people have left. Bolton insists that any deal with North Korea has to be able to produce a guarantee that North Korea would keep no fissile material or weapons or the labs necessary to enrich nuclear material.

White House national security adviser John Bolton says North Korea’s prospects are “unbelievably strong if they’ll commit to denuclearization” https://t.co/F5VFUOkfx8 pic.twitter.com/wH9unYwzAI

— CNN (@CNN) May 13, 2018

One of the things that has led South Korea to prop up the crazy regime in Pyongyang is that Seoul knows if North Korea melts down, then South Korea public opinion would demand that it rebuild the North. The South Koreans watched with horror at the billions of dollars West Germany pushed into to the former German Democratic Republic and realized it was cheaper to keep North Korea afloat. Bolton’s implication is that the United States will foot some of the cost of rebuilding.

Bolton: “That means all aspects of their nuclear program…I think we need to look at their chemical and biological weapons programs as well. The President’s going to raise other issues, the Japanese abductees, South Korean citizens who were kidnapped.” https://t.co/7yqwGb8PO8

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 13, 2018

John Bolton on negotiations with North Korea: “On the de-nuclearization side itself, that means all aspects of their nuclear program. Clearly the ballistic missile program … that has got to go” #CNNSOTU https://t.co/0hkRIcxNjQ

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) May 13, 2018

Expanding the scope of what will be on the table is a good thing. If we are going to agree to give economic relief, then we need to get all we can get while North Korea has an incentive to deal.

Trump may submit North Korea nuclear deal for Senate approval, John Bolton says https://t.co/MQAwX6nnbc pic.twitter.com/xNo7IZfnkP

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) May 13, 2018

From the Washington Times:

Unlike the path taken by President Obama with the Iran nuclear deal, a top Trump administration official said Sunday the White House is open to submitting any denuclearization deal with North Korea to the Senate for formal approval.

“It’s entirely possible we’d proceed that way,” White House national security adviser John Bolton told CNN’s “State of the Union” program. “We’re still thinking about different alternatives. I wouldn’t want to foreclose the president’s options.”

“But it’s been one of the criticisms of the Iran nuclear deal, to be sure, that a deal of that level of consequence was not given to the Senate as many people think the Constitution provided,” he concluded.

This is definitely the way to go.

Kim Jong Un should have out this past week that a deal made with a president and opposed by the Congress is not a great deal. By focusing on a deal that will go before the Senate, Trump has incentive to no only ask for a lot but demand that it be verifiable. If Trump is going to commit to significant economic aid, he needs Congress to buy in. To get the buy it, Kim has an increased incentive to achieve the irreversible denuclearization that Bolton wants.

Announcing that this deal must be approved by he Senate gives Kim assurances he needs, it give Trump more clout in making the deal, and it respects the US Constitution.

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