A note about that terrific speech on North Korea, delivered last Thursday at the American Enterprise Institute by the U.S. special envoy for human rights in North Korea, Jay Lefkowitz. In his speech, Lefkowitz broke ranks with the State Department’s charade of progress in disarming Pyongyang. Explaining that four years of Six-Party Talks on North Korea have been a failure, he urged a change of course. Coming from someone at State, it was an extraordinary exercise in facing facts; more in my post last Friday on “Man Bites Dog — State Department Envoy Speaks the Truth About North Korea.”
On Friday, as can still be found in the cached version on google, Lefkowitz’s speech was posted on the State Department web site, as an entry under “Remarks” for 2008.
But today — hey, presto! — the speech has vanished! As I write this, there are no Lefkowitz “Remarks” for 2008. They’re down the Memory Hole.
Contrast that with State’s record of the 2008 “Remarks” of the special envoy to the Six-Party Talks, Chris Hill, who never stops talking. Shades of Pyongyang, it gets ever more difficult to tell whether the party line at the Condi Rice State Department represents the interests of America, or of Kim Jong Il.
(Fortunately, State cannot make the Lefkowitz speech entirely un-happen. If the link to the google cached version stops working, you can still find the Jan 17th speech on the AEI web site).
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1. Alex Reed:Spot the Diplomat / or / Condi Agonistes
Apparently our Secretary of State did not like the North Korea reality sandwiches served up by Jay Lefkowitz last week, and had a high altitude fit of pique about it all while jetting off to Berlin on Monday.
From the State Department transcript:
“Well, I can tell you in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t (speaking for the Administration). He’s the human rights envoy. That’s what he knows. That’s what he does. He doesn’t work on the six-party talks. He doesn’t know what’s going on in the six-party talks, and he certainly has no say in what American policy will be in the six-party talks.”…..
“And by the way, the President has spoken as to what our policy is in the six-party talks. I think that’s what –”…..
“I know where the President stands and I know where I stand and those are the people who speak for American policy.”
Whiplash!
Mr. Lefkowitz, “declined to respond in kind”, and mildly opined that, “”I’m going to have a great deal more to say about elevating the issue of human rights in North Korea, which is clearly a priority for the president and Congress.” He has since announced that he intends to publicize whatever he learns about human rights abuses in North Korea.
Jan 23, 2008 - 9:12 am 2. Richard:Why am I reminded here of George Orwell, wherein, in the novel, 1984, there is a ministry that either rewrites history, or basically makes it disappear?
I used to like Condi Rice, now I find her just another diplomat that doesn’t want to make waves and refuses call it as it really is in this world.
Jan 23, 2008 - 12:22 pm 3. Sin-U Nam:Condi Rice is as bad as, nay, much worse than Madeleine Albright, who I thought was getting senile when she applauded the Arirang Slave Mass Game in Pyongyang with Kim Jong-il. If Rice does not know yet JI Kim will never give up his nuclear weapons, she is an idiot. If she knows JI Kim will never give up his nuclear weapons, and still continues her diplomatic charade (Nick Eberstadt’s words) of 6-idiots talk, then she is definitely a criminal.
Jan 23, 2008 - 1:56 pm 4. Blog-o-Fascists:Down the memory hole at the State Department
Power Line
Last week AFP reported on remarks by Bush administration special envoy for human rights in North Korea Jay Lefkowitz at an American Enterprise Instit…
Jan 24, 2008 - 12:30 pm 5. TexLex:For what it’s worth, a pre-disappearance copy of the State Dept. web page (http://www.state.gov/g/senk/99467.htm) is at http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2008/01/lefkowitz.html
Jan 24, 2008 - 6:26 pm 6. Blog-o-Fascists:The Mandarin and the Empress’s New Clothes
Power Line
Last month AFP reported on remarks by Bush administration special envoy for human rights in North Korea Jay Lefkowitz at an American Enterprise Insti…
Feb 8, 2008 - 12:30 pm