MillenniumPost
Editorial

Going the Libya way?

Even as a cocksure US President has been waxing eloquent on how successful and effective the Singapore Summit with North Korea would be, no one seems to be concerned about Pyongyang's sudden lack of interest. It has opted to remain silent. Instead, Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea that it could end up like Libya if it failed to make a nuclear deal with the United States. "There was some talk about the Libyan model last week and, you know, as the President made clear, this will only end like the Libyan model ended if Kim Jong-un does not make a deal," Pence said. When it was noted that the comparison could be interpreted as a threat, Pence replied, "Well, I think it's more of a fact." President Donald Trump's national security adviser John Bolton's comment that the Trump administration was looking at invoking Libya as an example on how to conduct a potential nuclear agreement with North Korea was met with grave concern from the Kim regime. A North Korean official said Bolton's comments were indicative of an "awfully sinister move" to imperil the Kim regime. Libyan leader Col Gaddafi had agreed to abandon his nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief in the early 2000s. Within years, he was overthrown and killed by rebels backed by Washington. This comparison led the White House to initially downplay the hawkish Bolton's comments. A White House spokesperson said that "there's not a cookie cutter model on how this would work." "This is the President Trump model. He's going to run this the way he sees fit. We're 100 per cent confident, as I'm sure you're all aware, he's the best negotiator and we're very confident on that front." Pence added that under Trump's leadership, the US "is not going to tolerate the regime in North Korea possessing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that threaten the United States and our allies." Trump is scheduled to sit down with Kim in June, but now no one knows for sure. North Korea has threatened to cancel the talks if it is pushed "into a corner" regarding its nuclear disarmament. "The reality is that we hope for a peaceable solution," Pence said. "The President remains open to a summit taking place and will continue to pursue that path even while we stand strong on the objective of denuclearisation and the extreme pressure campaign that's underway today." The problem with the present US leadership is that it seems bothered only about its own interests and "triumphs" and wants proceedings choreographed accordingly. The impending Summit is about negotiations before arriving at a deal to the mutual satisfaction of both sides. Let them do nothing to upset the applecart.
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