Progress in North Korea

Summary:
Nuclear inspectors have been let back into North Korea. This is good news and a rare victory for the Bush administration. But how different is this from Clinton's deal with North Korea?

The good news continues in North Korea. Nuclear inspectors will check the main nuclear reactor in North Korea. While I think this is a victory for the Bush administration, there is still a lot more that needs to be negotiated, especially accounting for any nuclear weapons and weapon capabilities the government has.

Some are saying that this agreement is similar to the deal the Clinton administration had with North Korea. It also seems that it is not the direction VP Cheney wanted to go in. It is becoming clear that Bush is finally realizing his Veep doesn't have the right answers. Hoping for the Kim Jong Il government to crash probably isn't a good policy anyway, considering the amazing damage that would result in a hard landing.

The one thing I am unclear on is whether this deal came from the five-nation talks the Bush administration was requiring, or whether there were secret two-party talks. This is pretty important, considering it was the cornerstone of Bush's policy in dealing with North Korea.