Important: Legacy or America?

[tw]

From the Washington Post of 12 Oct 2008:

U.S. Drops North Korea From Terrorism List
The Bush administration removed North Korea from its terrorism blacklist yesterday, a move that was aimed at salvaging a sputtering nuclear disarmament deal but that sparked internal controversy, infuriated Japan and drew some Republican opposition. ...

In Japan, where North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens many years ago remains an emotional issue, officials were furious about the U.S. concession. Rice and her Japanese counterpart had a tense and lengthy conversation Friday morning, and Bush called Prime Minister Taro Aso yesterday to smooth things over. But Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, in Washington, told reporters that the U.S. decision was "extremely regrettable," adding: "I believe abductions amount to terrorist acts."

The State Department, in a rare Saturday news briefing, brought forward one of the chief negotiators and two internal skeptics of the verification deal to show a united front. But U.S. officials acknowledged privately that a key factor was the growing concern that North Korea could test a nuclear weapon in the final 100 days of Bush's presidency.

A pragmatic response to correct an absurd and political inspired "Axis of Evil" mistake? Or a last minute policy change to protect the George Jr legacy?

Did N Korea's actions suddenly change from one or six months ago? Of course not. But N Korea was so frustrated by American foreign policy inaction as to threaten to restart its nuclear reactor. Did Condi Rice remove N Korea from the terrorism blacklist because N Korea did something to earn it? No. Did N Korea blackmail George Jr by threatening the most important thing to George Jr - his legacy? More likely according to US officials. George Jr is still more concerned with his legacy than in America's interest.