Not Your Sweetie

When not Blaming Clinton, Bits of Truth come Out

NYT-Even many of Mr. Bush's staunchest loyalists concede that the administration's approach to
North Korea has been a confusing case study in atomic diplomacy. The White House took 18
months to settle on a strategy that promised real engagement, including eventual security
guarantees and normalization of relations that North Korea has craved for years. In the end,
the offer was never made because of revelations about North Korea's secret nuclear
program.



"We ended up with a policy that could best be described as `hostile neglect,' " said one senior
administration official who sat, often fuming, as State Department, Pentagon and White
House officials replayed old arguments.