OpEd:
Bill Clinton: Causing Political Drama?
August 6, 2009 by Kyle BradyTags: America, Clinton, DRPK, North Korea, Obama, Politics
As required by the FTC, a Full Disclosure is available - this piece adheres to the Code of Ethics
As is now common knowledge, Bill Clinton ventured to North Korea and brought back the two Current TV journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, with an official Kim Jong-Il pardon for the two American citizens who had been sentenced for 12 years for murky reasons and with a questionable trial. While the results are great, a few questions remain.
First, former President Bill Clinton traveled as a “private citizen”, not as an American emissary of any kind, and on a Shangri-La Entertainment owned jet. It’s understandable that Clinton would be concerned for the journalists and curious as to his potential ability to help, but his actions were clearly not sanctioned by the Obama Administration or the Federal Government at any level, and would likely be seen as overstepping lines of power if he were not a former President – what if Angelina Jolie had gone in his stead?
Second, Clinton’s presence in North Korea could have been interpreted in two very different ways by Jong-Il: as an American admission of willingness to cooperate with a vile regime, regardless of Clinton’s nonofficial capacity, or as a so-called “act of war”, which is exactly what the DRPK has been hunting for months. If Jong-Il interprets Clinton’s presence as a validation of his actions, the future will not be quite as bright as some pundits are predicting. But if he had taken the action as military in nature, which he obviously did not, Clinton could have been imprisoned for very much the same reasons as the journalists – not exactly a happy outcome.
Third, the fact that a former President from the last decade accomplished this feat, and not current President Barack Obama, is an embarrassment to the Administration, if not a complete undermining in the realm of foreign policy. Obama has been pushing an intense agenda to restore America’s image abroad to its former glory, to great success, but a private citizen acting in such an officious capacity could suggest that other citizens or individuals without power may speak for the country – to countries like Iran, this is highly dangerous in an already tense situation.
Fourth, and finally, Bill Clinton has not only embarrassed his wife, Hillary, who is Secretary of State, but also weakened her position in the foreign arena – North Korea called her names, but her husband is a welcomed savior. For a woman who was devastated in the Presidential race, then hired by her former enemy months later, legitimacy and power is something she often lacks – not to mention her lack of experience for a job so large as she holds. Until this event with North Korea, she had been at least maintaining a good public appearance, if not making diplomatic progress, but now all of that is threatened: how seriously will foreign countries take a Secretary of State that has less power than her private citizen husband?
The release of the journalists from North Korean incarceration was a welcome surprise, but their return to the United States is just the beginning – only time will tell how Kim Jong-Il will manipulate this “act of diplomacy” into aid, food, or money, and whether Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be able to retain her hold on the position. If one thing can be learned from any previous dealings with Jong-Il’s regime, it is that nothing is given for free, not the least of which is freedom.
Update (8/6/2009 5:20pm PST): I've been getting alot of flack for this post, and I don't retract or regret any of it. Regardless of what is being said by Obama and the Administration now, there was a definitive "no comment" position prior to, during, and immediately after - which is an obvious clue to Clinton's trip not being sanctioned, even in an "official unofficial" capacity.
OpEd pieces are published on Mondays and Thursdays, and usually have to do with politics or other pressing and relevant issues in America.
Kyle can be found on Twitter and MySpace, or reached via email.
