Frederick Staklebeck's conclusion in his article on North Korea today, "All this leaves the U.S. in the  unenviable position of possibly having to make certain uncomfortable  concessions that are counter to its stated policy concerning North  Korea's nuclear weapons program," is the same type of appeasement  instituted by the Clinton administration that has gotten us into this  fix. There is no method to assure us that if we do bribe the North  Koreans that they won't simply go about the same policies that they  have been currently following surreptitiously.
 
Regime change and the fall of Kim Jong Il is the only sure fire way of 
diffusing the DPRK's threat to the Korean peninsula and to global 
peace in general.. The simplest way to accomplish that is through the Chinese. While they have temporarily rejected the idea of a "technical" halt to the flow of oil to the DPRK this certainly is only a near term 
response by the Chinese while the long term strategy plays out....
 
The Bush administration should remain steadfast in rejecting any 
unilateral discussions with the North Koreans and focus on continued 
discussion and diplomatic pressure on the Chinese to take care of 
business in their sphere of influence. The Chinese have to much at 
stake in economic relations with the United States, Japan and Taiwan 
to allow a tinpot dictator to threaten to throw the whole region into chaos.
 
The bargaining chips that we have with the Chinese far outweigh any 
concern they might have for maintaining "Dear Leader's" seat on the 
throne. Interruption of China's Most Favored Nation status as well as 
nuclear equipping the Japanese and Taiwanese are all potential results 
if China allows North Korea to continue on its current course. By 
refusing to bribe the north Korean's again the United States will
force the Chinese to make the self interest decisions which are inevitable.

Phillip Gallagher
Danvers, MA