At the beginning of the Bush administration, I was quick to criticize President Bush’s stance on North Korea. (Basically, he didn’t trust them.) As it turns out, he was completely right not to. Just setting the record straight here. On the other hand, we’re going to see a lot of criticism of Clinton and Carter for striking the deal they did back in 1994 that theoretically ended North Korea’s WMD programs. I don’t think anybody was prepared to go to war with North Korea back then (least of all the South Koreans, who would take the brunt of the punishment), and the agreement was a way to defuse the situation and perhaps even get North Korea to comply. Obviously, the United States knew that North Korea wasn’t playing along nicely, that’s why they never got any of the nuclear reactors that we agreed to give them as part of the deal. Even now, when we have more proof than ever that North Korea does not bargain in good faith, the Bush administration is pursuing a diplomatic resolution to the situation. Nobody wants a war on the Korean peninsula.