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I'm obviously not a Trump fan, but a couple of things on this. 1) A full accounting was never going to happen. So while I'd like a full accounting, I get that it might be a useful bargaining chip only insofar as it's one to be thrown away easy.
2) This "deal" still isn't a "deal" and is bogus and BS and mostly a photo and PR coup opportunity (for both Trump and Kim) and should be viewed as such. That said, all this means is Trump is continuing to fail on North Korea the way literally everyone else has.
3) Basically, we have zero expertise-- and no one but the Chinese *maybe* has any-- about NK. The likelihood is we're never going to get them to denuclearize. I'd like to get them to, but it's more likely we either have to strike them to achieve it, or we live with a nuclear NK.
4) OK, one last thing I'll say: There are a lot of people I've heard in DC over the years berate the Bush guys for not engaging in enough diplomacy or "just being willing to talk" and now being pissy about Trump talking and doing nothing else with Kim.
This is a little inconsistent. You either believe that leaders talking works or it doesn't (by the way, a lot of these people also applauded Obama for saying he'd meet Ahmadinejad one-on-one early in his presidency). It can't be that it works with Ds but not Rs...
... or with Bush but not Trump or whatever other variation. You either believe in personal, leader-to-leader diplomacy or you don't. That's that. Personally, bar the exceptional Reagan-Thatcher type situation, I'm incredulous re personal relationships bw leaders delivering.
Though I do think that McCain had the kind of extensive personal relationships with other world leaders where, had he been elected in 2008, he could have accomplished a lot off the back of those personal relationships. But in the main, I'k a skeptic.
I am less skeptical and more optimistic about diplomats' ability to do diplomacy over the long term based on their personal relationships with each other. I just think it's tough to forge that type of relationship and establish that level of trust when you are the actual leader.
