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U.S. senators urge N. Korea dialogue
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Under the shadow of nuclear confrontation between Washington and North Korea, senators used the traditional Sunday talk shows on American television to urge President Bush to open dialogue with Pyongyang. The calls from both Democrats and Republicans came as rhetoric between the two countries grows increasingly fiery over North Korea's declared plans to restart its nuclear program. It also came a day ahead of talks taking place in Washington with South Korean officials, who are pushing a new compromise proposal for defusing the crisis. While Democrats have been overtly critical of Bush's policies toward North Korea, some Republicans are now also urging a resumption of dialogue. "I believe this can be done peacefully through diplomacy," Senator Chuck Hagel, told CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer. "We need to cut right through the fog here," he said. "Somebody better be talking to North Korea. ... We've got an unstable leader with nuclear weapons, so we better get off the high horse here and deal as directly as we need to deal with this." The current crisis escalated late last year, when Pyongyang announced it was restarting the nuclear program it halted under a 1994 agreement with Washington and kicked out international monitors. North Korea said the United States had failed to live up to its part of the deal to ensure construction of new light water nuclear energy reactors for Pyongyang. 'No negotiations'Bush has said repeatedly that he will not negotiate with North Korea until it halts all nuclear activity. Even before thee current crisis, Bush labeled North Korea as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and Iran. But last week, Bush said he believed the crisis with Pyongyang could be resolved peacefully through diplomacy, indicating a change of tone, if not policy. Calling Bush's policy "a failure," Democrat Senator John Edwards from North Carolina urged Bush first to restore relations with South Korea, and once that is done, to sit down and hold tough negotiations with the North. "But the starting place of that negotiation would be they have to stop what they're doing now," Edwards said on ABC's This Week. "They have to discontinue the development of this nuclear weapons program." Democrat Evan Bayh of Indiana said the U.S. policy was little more than a bluff. "What we've had here is the North Korean regime has basically called our bluff and said, 'Fine, we're going to engage in proliferation, or we're going to engage in nuclear blackmail. United States of America and President Bush, what are you going to do about it?'" the senator told CNN. "We ought to all hope that negotiations work. But I hope it's not the triumph of hope over experience." MistakeSenator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, also said that Bush had made a mistake by cutting off Pyongyang. "We always ought to be willing to talk, particularly in a situation as dangerous as that," Levin told Fox News Sunday. "That does not imply capitulation," Levin said. "It doesn't imply concessions," he said. "It just simply means face-to-face we're going to discuss the differences -- and they are major -- that we have with North Korea, in order to avoid miscalculation, in order that they can hear from us face-to-face what our problems are with their behavior." Calling the showdown "a crisis," Republican Senator John McCain, warned that giving in to North Korea's tactics could send the wrong message. He said Washington must keep all of its options open. "Now, if you allow the North Koreans to gain some sort of leverage or agreement that would be beneficial to them, that will be a lesson to all other nations: do the same thing," McCain told CBS' Face the Nation. "We should never abandon the military option when we are facing a direct threat to the United States of America. It is, however, the absolute last resort."
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We've got an unstable leader with nuclear weapons, so we better get off the high horse here and deal as directly as we need to deal with this
