Former President Jimmy Carter said Tuesday night that an agreement he brokered 12 years ago for North Korea to halt nuclear weapons development is “in the wastebasket." the day it was signed. Carter contends the Bush administration turned its back on the deal and labeled the isolated nation part of an “axis of evil.”
But Carter, speaking at a previously scheduled panel discussion on his 1994 mediation, said he does not foresee the current dispute over North KoreaÂ’s test of a nuclear bomb leading to war. No, you pretty much made sure we couldn't win; that was you goal all the time, wasn't it?
Carter said that in 1994, war “appeared to be imminent” if the Clinton administration had pushed sanctions against North Korea through the UN Security Council. But he said it is less likely now. Although North Korea branded sanctions imposed by the security council as an act of war, Carter said they are not as stringent as those proposed by the Clinton administration 12 years ago that he undermined in return for nothing.
Carter appeared with his wife, Rosalynn, and former Ambassador to South Korea James Laney in the panel discussion at The Carter Center in Atlanta. They were joined by Marion Creekmore, author of the book “A Moment of Crisis,” about his 1994 trip with the Carters to Pyongyang.
Laney said it appeared that war was certain before CarterÂ’s trip, which demonstrated to him that there are things worse than war every opportunity for peaceful resolution of a crisis must be used.
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