And Then There Were Two in the Axis of Evil? - Updated

by CKR

So says the Washington Post: N. Korea Agrees to Nuclear Disarmament

That's heady, particularly after the New York Times's gloom that an instant solution seemed not to be forthcoming.

Negotiations on a step-by-step deal that the Bush administration hopes will lead North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program appeared near collapse on Sunday over North Korea’s demands for huge shipments of fuel oil and electricity before agreeing to a schedule for turning over its nuclear weapons and fuel.

Apparently Jim Yardley and David Sanger had never seen North Korea throw a tantrum before, and they were shocked, shocked!

Jim Yardley in today's Times is more optimistic. What a difference a day makes! Or is it that David Sanger is the crabby one?

The truth probably lies in the murky regions between the MSM's bipolar fits. The deal is still fragile, and there is much more negotiation to come. One of the more hopeful signs is that the United States has agreed to consider normalization of relations between the two countries. One of the less hopeful signs is that a treaty to end the Korean War (yes, that one, in the early 1950s) hasn't been mentioned.

The deal looks a lot like the Agreed Framework that the Clinton administration negotiated in 1994. Its breakup could be attributed to actions on both sides, but the continuing stalemate to the Bush administration's allergy to negotiating. From today's Times article:

Even before it was signed in Beijing , John R. Bolton, who left his post as American ambassador to the United Nations two months ago, denounced the accord. ''I think that this deal with North Korea undercuts the sanctions resolution'' that he pushed through in October at the United Nations Security Council, after the North's nuclear test, CNN reported.

Indeed a terrible thing not to be able to have sanctions.

But there may be more setbacks, which should cheer John up. Not to mention that these things can take a long time.

The Los Angeles Times has a more balanced report than the other two. And Steve Clemons worries about what deal may have been made with America's own axis of evil.

Paul Kerr has the agreement itself.

Updated (02/13/07): Background on North Korea from Richard Bernstein and six factors behind the agreement from Joseph Cirincione.