North Korea, not so evil anymore

By Creature

Steve Clemons, at The Washington Note, is reporting that on Thursday the Bush administration will ask congress to remove North Korea from the U.S. terror watch-list. If true, this is big news and a boon to the region. If true, there will be some very unhappy neocon-campers here at home. Clemons explains:

While North Korea's behavior continues to be erratic and often troubling, the Bush administration's decision will be considered a major victory for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Deputy Secretary John Negroponte, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others -- but the real winner is Department of State Asst. Secretary for East Asia Affairs Christopher Hill -- who has been under almost constant assault from John Bolton and others opposed to deal-making with North Korea.

John Bolton, Dick Cheney, Bill Kristol, and their ilk will not take this lightly. Which pleases me very much. My only fear is that maybe the remaining neocon holdouts in the administration have agreed to this de-listing move in exchange for a little shock-and-awe against their true enemy, the one with the oil, Iran.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)