White House strikes back at Richardson over North Korea diplomacy

The White House finally struck back Tuesday at New Mexico’s governor and his repeated (and successful) attempts to step on the Bush Administration’s toes over the North Korea situation.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who served as United Nations ambassador and energy secretary under President Clinton, “went with flowers and chocolates, and he went with light-water nuclear reactors… and a basketball signed by Michael Jordan and many other inducements for the ‘dear leader’ to try to agree not to develop nuclear weapons, and it failed,” White House spokesman Tony Snow said today, according to the Washington Post. “We’ve learned from that mistake.”

Bush has increasingly expressed frustration in recent days with diplomacy after North Korea test fired several missiles last week. For a time, it was Bush who was calling for cooperation with other nations, a rare event indeed.

But Richardson knows how to get on national television and has appeared in the past several days saying that the North simply needs more attention, including promises of aid similar to those being offered to Iran.

A couple of years ago, a North Korean delegation came to Santa Fe to talk with Richardson, an obvious sign of disrespect toward Bush. And the North’s leader, Kim Jong II, invited Richardson to North Korea last year, and Richardson took a delegation of New Mexicans with him.