AP Wire | 08/01/2002 | Powell Defends Talks With N. Korea

Of course he does. General Colin is irretrievably tied to the European worldview that says that you always have to talk, that "process" is important. That the "process" never seems to result in any actual progress doesn't seem to matter. At least we're having dialogue!

North Korea is a brutal dictatorship. All any "engagement" has done is string out the process of its collapse. Instead of tightening the screws we (and the South Koreans even moreso) keep bribing them. The problems aren't going to go away by talking to the despots, but by finding a way to get rid of them.