To the Editor:
Re “Trump’s Talks with Kim Jong-un Collapse Over North Korean Sanctions” (nytimes.com, Feb. 28):
President Trump had two hands to play in meeting with Kim Jong-un this week. The deal maker could become the peacemaker — “we fell in love,” the president said in September. This would not play specifically to the red meat themes of his base, but it offered Mr. Trump the opportunity to portray himself as doing great things.
The other hand, his basic one, is the tough guy who hits back 10 times harder and is always ready to “walk away from the table.” With Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony unfolding back home, he reverted to Basic Trump, portraying himself as tougher than Mr. Kim.
To interpret this as his having made a reasoned decision is a fundamental error. He makes and will continue to make decisions based on his instinct for his own self-interest.
Edwin B. Fisher
Chapel Hill, N.C.
The writer is a clinical psychologist in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a contributor to “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.”
To the Editor:
President Trump went to the summit meeting with the confidence that the weight of his personality and instincts would enable him to finally strike a deal that his predecessors could not accomplish in decades of trying.
But it has always been clear to seasoned diplomats and career professionals, whose advice Mr. Trump has proudly disregarded, that dealing with North Korea is a frustrating and complex matter that transcends the flattery and handshakes.
If Kim Jong-un continues his moratorium on nuclear testing even without a rollback of his arsenal, the current ease of tensions on the Korean Peninsula can certainly be viewed as a product of a new dialogue. But if the North Koreans become more aggressive and the president continues on a course of oversimplified personal diplomacy, an already dangerous situation could become far worse.
Roger Hirschberg
Bondville, Vt.
To the Editor:
I offer faint praise for the president for, if he is to be believed (a big if), refusing to give away the store to Kim Jong-un.
But what he did at the summit meeting was to further aggrandize a ruthless killer, warmly embracing him and speaking of the special relationship they have enjoyed.
The president has a pattern of taking the word of killers over that of his intelligence services. He swallowed whole Mr. Kim’s assertion that he was not aware of the imprisonment of the American college student Otto Warmbier, who was returned to our country near death and subsequently died after imprisonment in North Korea for allegedly stealing a poster.
It is reasonable to believe what our intelligence officials have told us, that North Korea will never relinquish its ability to launch a nuclear attack against us, and why would it? Throughout history, our country has chosen to topple regimes we do not like, and Donald Trump has made clear that the word of the United States is not its bond; who would trust him?
It’s a dangerous chess game.
Oren Spiegler
South Strabane Township, Pa.
Source: Read Full Article
Home » Analysis & Comment » Opinion | The Korea Gamble That Didn’t Pay Off
Opinion | The Korea Gamble That Didn’t Pay Off
To the Editor:
Re “Trump’s Talks with Kim Jong-un Collapse Over North Korean Sanctions” (nytimes.com, Feb. 28):
President Trump had two hands to play in meeting with Kim Jong-un this week. The deal maker could become the peacemaker — “we fell in love,” the president said in September. This would not play specifically to the red meat themes of his base, but it offered Mr. Trump the opportunity to portray himself as doing great things.
The other hand, his basic one, is the tough guy who hits back 10 times harder and is always ready to “walk away from the table.” With Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony unfolding back home, he reverted to Basic Trump, portraying himself as tougher than Mr. Kim.
To interpret this as his having made a reasoned decision is a fundamental error. He makes and will continue to make decisions based on his instinct for his own self-interest.
Edwin B. Fisher
Chapel Hill, N.C.
The writer is a clinical psychologist in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a contributor to “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump.”
To the Editor:
President Trump went to the summit meeting with the confidence that the weight of his personality and instincts would enable him to finally strike a deal that his predecessors could not accomplish in decades of trying.
But it has always been clear to seasoned diplomats and career professionals, whose advice Mr. Trump has proudly disregarded, that dealing with North Korea is a frustrating and complex matter that transcends the flattery and handshakes.
If Kim Jong-un continues his moratorium on nuclear testing even without a rollback of his arsenal, the current ease of tensions on the Korean Peninsula can certainly be viewed as a product of a new dialogue. But if the North Koreans become more aggressive and the president continues on a course of oversimplified personal diplomacy, an already dangerous situation could become far worse.
Roger Hirschberg
Bondville, Vt.
To the Editor:
I offer faint praise for the president for, if he is to be believed (a big if), refusing to give away the store to Kim Jong-un.
But what he did at the summit meeting was to further aggrandize a ruthless killer, warmly embracing him and speaking of the special relationship they have enjoyed.
The president has a pattern of taking the word of killers over that of his intelligence services. He swallowed whole Mr. Kim’s assertion that he was not aware of the imprisonment of the American college student Otto Warmbier, who was returned to our country near death and subsequently died after imprisonment in North Korea for allegedly stealing a poster.
It is reasonable to believe what our intelligence officials have told us, that North Korea will never relinquish its ability to launch a nuclear attack against us, and why would it? Throughout history, our country has chosen to topple regimes we do not like, and Donald Trump has made clear that the word of the United States is not its bond; who would trust him?
It’s a dangerous chess game.
Oren Spiegler
South Strabane Township, Pa.
Source: Read Full Article