"…We live in a world where the US has shown it does not feel obligated to honor
any agreement permanently,” Jim W. Dean said in an interview with the Tasnim
News Agency.
"So this North Korean negotiation is going to be a first major test to see
whether the US having backed out of the JCPOA will have an effect on future
negotiation outcomes,” he added.
Jim Dean is the managing editor of VeteransToday.com and a regular geopolitical
commentator on various media outlets around the world. He and Sr. Editor Gordon
Duff have begun their own bridge building campaign with Iranian university youth
via Skype conferences. Jim comes from an old military family going back to the
American Revolution.
Following is the full text of the interview:
Tasnim: US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un concluded
their recent historic summit in Singapore by signing a deal that included a
pledge to "work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” What
do you think about the agreement and how do you predict its success given
Washington’s non-commitment to international treaties?
Dean: The main focus should be on keeping the momentum moving forward and not
second guessing every step of the process. It was expected by all diplomatic
professionals that a broad outline in the direction that Trump and Kim wanted to
go was all that was going to be made at the first meeting.
Those complaining about there not being enough details were just trying to get
news coverage as critics. Old-timers expected to see a step-by-step process that
would build confidence for going to the next step, and that is what happened.
Completely ignored was the purpose of Trump’s announcement of stopping military
drills with South Korea. That was exploited by Trump’s opponents as "giving the
store away”, and being out-negotiated. But that ploy was just childish fake
news.
Kim had earlier made a major good show of faith with the public blowing up of
his nuclear research facility, something he cannot now push a button and make
reappear if Trump bows out of the talks. So Trump really owed a major concession
to Kim in response, and he agreed to what Kim had always claimed to be a major
ongoing threat to North Korea, the never-ending US-South Korea war games.
But if Kim breaks a promise, Trump can restart the war games with a push of a
button. Historically, such a major negotiation takes time, and this one will be
no different.
Tasnim: Trump recently attacked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer in a tweet
over the New York Democrat's criticisms of the North Korea summit. Schumer said
the summit was "what the Texans call all cattle and no hat”. What do you think
about the domestic disputes over the deal?
Dean: As usual the Democrats will spin everything that Trump does in a negative
way because we are heading into the key part of the midterm elections. The
Democrats are making a 100% effort to at least regain control over one house of
Congress to put the brakes on the Republicans ramming through legislation and
high appointments.
The public, especially the independents, are leaning toward rebalancing the
country’s interests, and to that I would personally add its safety. They feel it
would be more enhanced with the Democrats being in a stronger position to
negotiate compromises with the Trump administration.
This is viewed as not only critical on the economic and social issues, but
combating the war cabinet that Trump has surrounded himself with. A growing
number of military and intelligence professionals are also concerned that the
country could be taken into a new war, simply to serve the greedy interests of
the deep state operatives.
Casting a shadow over all of this is the Mueller investigation, which most
suspect will be completed by the end of the summer so any potential charges
coming would not be made close to the election date, where charges of political
manipulation would taint the result.
That happened when Trump came in, which dragged the FBI into a long controversy
that Mueller is trying to repair. Despite all the claims of leaks, no one really
knows at this point what Mueller is going to do, but he has re-establishing the
FBI’s reputation high on his list, and I doubt he would risk hurting it any
more.
Tasnim: As you know, Trump recently announced the US withdrawal from the 2015
nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, US, Britain, France,
and Germany). Prior to the move, the US had repeatedly violated the
international pact by imposing numerous sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Given Washington’s non-commitment to such an important international agreement,
what would be a guarantee of success of the US-North Korea deal?
Dean: This is a valid question, and one that North Korea will have to be careful
in handling. The US war hawks have already made a public show that they are
demanding that Kim’s denuclearization be "permanent”.
On the other hand, we live in a world where the US has shown it does not feel
obligated to honor any agreement permanently. So this North Korean negotiation
is going to be a first major test to see whether the US having backed out of the
JCPOA will have an effect on future negotiation outcomes.
Simply put, how can a country agree to be bound as a party to an agreement when
they know the US is not? How would that fly politically, say in a democratic
country where the public might demand that the US must now put up some kind of
guarantee of its good faith after it has thrown that away with its breach of the
JCPOA? No professional diplomat or state leader could ignore dealing with this
question publicly. Trump’s breach of the JCPOA has let loose a diplomatic
Frankenstein upon the planet. We must find some way to get back to the old days
of both parties being bound to international agreements, but so far no one has
proposed any way to do this, that I have seen.
Source: Tasnim