Was Bill Clinton’s North Korea Trip a Big Mistake?

by Glynnis MacNicol | 5:05 pm, August 5th, 2009

» 10 comments

masteroftheuniverse Arguably the best part of today’s press conference with just-landed Laura Ling and Euna Lee is when Ling recounted being told the were being taken to a impromptu meeting, and then walking into a room and seeing Bill Clinton. Wow, right? It’s like every Christmas you’ve ever had rolled into one!

That said, was it a big mistake? Will Bill Clinton now be called upon to rescue every unfairly detained American? To wit: Newsweek‘s Maziar Bahari has been unfairly jailed in Iran after videotaping parts of last month’s sweeping protests. Newsweek.com currently has a long feature about him and an interview with his wife Paola Gourley who is six months pregnant with their first child and hasn’t had any contact with him since June. How soon till someone starts asking when Bill will be jetting off to Iran to pull Bahari out? And if he doesn’t (and in all likelihood he won’t be) what will be the explanation? This is a tricky precedent the government has just set by allowing a former president to directly involve himself in this type of negotiation. Perhaps even a dangerous one according to former UN Ambassador John Bolton, who addressed the potential pitfalls of Clinton’s trip in yesterday’s Washington Post.

While the United States is properly concerned whenever its citizens are abused or held hostage, efforts to protect them should not create potentially greater risks for other Americans in the future. Yet that is exactly the consequence of visits by former presidents or other dignitaries as a form of political ransom to obtain their release. Iran and other autocracies are presumably closely watching the scenario in North Korea. With three American hikers freshly in Tehran’s captivity, will Clinton be packing his bags again for another act of obeisance? And, looking ahead, what American hostages will not be sufficiently important to merit the presidential treatment? What about Roxana Saberi and other Americans previously held in Tehran? What was it about them that made them unworthy of a presidential visit?

Good questions. And ones that are likely going to be asked more frequently in the days ahead. The reality, of course, is that Bill Clinton will not be making regular trips like this. And while the outcome of this trip is fantastic, and the political tableau it provided fascinating, the truth is it also offered the U.S. government a way to open talks with North Korea that not only saved them face but allowed them to look the hero. How high a price it exacts on future Americans held in similar situations remains to be seen.

barack obama, Bill Clinton, Euna Lee, John Bolton, Laura Ling, Maziar Bahari

Zen Zookie

No good deed goes unpunished. President Clinton secures the release of Americans who violated North Korean law by visiting without permission and is admonished by John Bolton and the twit media. Good for Bill Clinton and good for the journalists he retrieved.
http://www.abramsresearch.com/ Dan Abrams

Glynnis,

Isn’t this the same domino effect argument we hear all the time made by those trying to avoid any sort of diplomacy.”If x then where does it end?”

If Clinton was the current President the precedent argument would be more persuasive. But in the future the White House can legitimately say they do not control -this- Clinton’s schedule.

C’mon today just let us celebrate his success.
TfT

No problem with celebrating a success Dan, but questions and criticism are fair game too. I thought the job of journalists was to investigate, explore, get to the bottom of things. Simply declaring that “the White House can legitimately say….” doesn’t make it true. President Clinton is out of office, but like all ex’s, he is still addressed as President; it is precedent setting and only time will tell what the fall out is. In the meantime, cheers to all who participated in getting these two released and returned home. At what cost is a fair question that needs to be asked and answered.
libra blue

I am very happy for Laura and Euna, but I think there situation was unique because they were employed by Al Gore, thus the special treatment. Let’s not forget that Hillary Clinton was mocked by the North Koreans so it would have been pointless to send her. However, I would not be surprised if the Obama administration is forced to call on Bill Clinton in the future.
Zen Zookie

Yeah, Bolton and the media are probably right. President Clinton should have stayed out of it and allowed these journalists to languish in a North Korean prison. Makes perfects sense to me.
berries

And calling on Bill Clinton in the future would be a problem why?
libra blue

Calling on Bill Clinton is not a problem. I would rather see him in charge of situations like this instead of Obama.
berries

^^^hey libra blue – how did you get an avatar pic? i can’t even find a profile page on this site!
libra blue

@berries, That is a good question. This is the avatar I use on my WordPress blog, but I don’t know how it turned up here. Maybe Steve can answer that question.
Zeke Turner

@berries, you can add an profile picture at: http://www.mediaite.com/wp-admin/profile.php

let us know if you have any problems.

zeke@mediaite.com