Absolute Must Read: Chris Hill Explodes at Reporter Over Leaked Plan to Accept Incomplete, Incorrect N. Korean Declaration
James Rosen of Fox News has written the single most detailed and best-written criticism of Chris Hill’s Disagreed Framework I have yet read, and that certainly includes anything I’ve written. Rosen’s narration of Hill’s many public reassurances that he would accept nothing less than a “complete and correct” North Korean declaration is devastating. I had wished for the time to write something like it myself, and that is now done for me.
And yet that is not even the best part of Rosen’s piece. Reacting to a January report by Rosen (which I linked here) that Hill would accept an incomplete and incorrect North Korean declaration, Hill’s typing fingers sprouted venomous fangs:
In a series of angry e-mails, all on the record but unpublished until now, Hill vehemently denied the story. “Completely inaccurate,” he wrote. “This idea that we would ignore the most contentious items and take them up later is ridiculous. I don’t believe in “˜carve outs’ and even if I did (which I don’t) how in the world would this work in practical terms? Do you really think we could make concessions on the basis of an incomplete declaration, then somehow we would be able to return to the contentious issues AFTER ““ AFTER!!!??? — giving away all our leverage? Why? I can tell you this stupidity has never been under consideration by anyone who is part of the process or truly close to the process.
“I suspect,” Hill continued, “that you have sources who are a little out of it, a little frustrated either because they want the process to go forward or are afraid it might, and who are much more interested in manipulating you rather than enlightening you because I can assure you that nobody involved in this process has ever suggested this foolishness or floated such ideas because they don’t make any sense. Finally, Hill addressed, without invitation or foundation, what he assumed to be the reporter’s political leanings. “And, btw, I am a conservative, meaning I take this messy world as I see it and try to deal with painful reality, stay in channels, respect institutions, observe service discipline and follow instructions. You are not talking to conservatives. Believe me.
When the reporter politely thanked Hill and promised to distill his rant down to a quotable reaction, suitable for use in reporting, Hill shot back: “Just to be clear. I am calling your piece completely inaccurate. And since you are unable to provide a single named source — not a one, I have to wonder what you have been drinking (or smoking since you are obviously not a conservative). [Fox News]
In retrospect, it should have been easily predictable. First, Hill’s original deal mentioned “all its nuclear programs” but left the North Koreans several loopholes by failing to mention weapons, fissile material, uranium (plutonium was specifically mentioned; uranium wasn’t), or suspected proliferation (of which the White House was surely aware long before the Israelis bombed al-Kibar).
For each of these items, I suspected at the time that the ambiguity was deliberate, because North Korea simply didn’t agree. It wasn’t long before the North Koreans made their disagreement explicit, but Hill still got away with ambiguous answers (more) that few in Congress or the press bothered to pursue. Jack Pritchard has since carried back whatever additional confirmation we need: North Korea is flatly unwilling to disclose, dismantle, or disarm its nuclear arsenal or fissile material.