Even the National Security Adviser to Vice President George H.W. Bush
calls
Bush Jr's handling of North Korea "a huge mistake".

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Bush's Blunder In North Korea

Former U.S. National Security Adviser Donald Gregg - First: Don't
panic. Kim Jong Il's objective is survival and eventual change in North
Korea, not suicide. The diplomatic situation in Northeast Asia will be
immensely complicated by the North Korea test, which I think was a huge
mistake on their part, but missiles are not about to start flying.

The test may indicate the rise in influence of a hard-line faction in
the KPA, which is holding sway, at least for now, over others more
interested in transformational change in NK. The initiation of a strong
bilateral dialogue between NK and the US would strengthen the
moderates, and ease the situation in general, but that is not at all
likely to happen.

Second: Why won't the Bush administration talk bilaterally and
substantively with NK, as the Brits (and eventually the US) did with
Libya? Because the Bush administration sees diplomacy as something to
be engaged in with another country as a reward for that country's good
behavior. They seem not to see diplomacy as a tool to be used with
antagonistic countries or parties, that might bring about an
improvement in the behavior of such entities, and a resolution to the
issues that trouble us. Thus we do not talk to Iran, Syria, Hizballah
or North Korea. We only talk to our friends -- a huge mistake.

Donald Gregg was a CIA official since 1951 and a liaison to President
Carter's National Security Council and, National Security Adviser to
Vice President George H.W. Bush and U.S. ambassador to South Korea from
1989 to 1993. He's now chairman of the board of the Korea Society

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/needtoknow/2006/10/bush_made_a_big_mistake...