Bill Clinton emerged from more than a year of relative obscurity last week with a mission to Pyongyang, where he rescued two American journalists imprisoned by the North Koreans. It was a tou
ching and triumphant moment, the secretary of state’s spouse as high-level diplomatic troubleshooter. There were banner headlines about the Comeback Kid, reminiscent of Mr. Clinton’s first presidential campaign. It was a testament to his special status. “A former president gives you a unique combination of seniority and rank, but also distance,” says Richard N. Haass, a former U.S. State Department official and now head of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. As Mr. Haass and others note, Mr. Clinton didn’t negotiate anything in North Korea. Everything was scripted back-channel by President Barack Obama’s administration; the ex-president might have freelanced a little, but he had no leeway for discussions on other issues. Still, he undoubtedly gleaned important impressions of the ailing “Dear Leader,” Kim Jong-il, and others in the reclusive, nuclear-armed, trouble-making regime. Thus, more interesting and important than the headlines, and the attendant fun and gossip of any Clinton saga, are the possibilities — and perils — of using him on subsequent missions.
ching and triumphant moment, the secretary of state’s spouse as high-level diplomatic troubleshooter. There were banner headlines about the Comeback Kid, reminiscent of Mr. Clinton’s first presidential campaign. It was a testament to his special status. “A former president gives you a unique combination of seniority and rank, but also distance,” says Richard N. Haass, a former U.S. State Department official and now head of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. As Mr. Haass and others note, Mr. Clinton didn’t negotiate anything in North Korea. Everything was scripted back-channel by President Barack Obama’s administration; the ex-president might have freelanced a little, but he had no leeway for discussions on other issues. Still, he undoubtedly gleaned important impressions of the ailing “Dear Leader,” Kim Jong-il, and others in the reclusive, nuclear-armed, trouble-making regime. Thus, more interesting and important than the headlines, and the attendant fun and gossip of any Clinton saga, are the possibilities — and perils — of using him on subsequent missions.For further details visit as : http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/us/10iht-letter.html
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