Tillerson: 'We squandered the best opportunity we had on North Korea'

[DonViejo]

BY CELINE CASTRONUOVO - 01/12/21 12:02 PM EST

Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in an interview published Monday said President Trump’s summit meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “squandered the best opportunity we had on North Korea.”

In the interview with Foreign Policy, which took place before a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol last week, Trump’s first secretary of state said he consistently disagreed with Trump’s disparagement of U.S. allies and engagement with authoritarian leaders, including Kim and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The only rationalization I could come to was that he thought, ‘Well, if I disparage my allies and treat these bad guys as my friends, I’ll get more done with them in U.S. interests,’” Tillerson explained.

“Maybe he thought, ‘I’ll let Kim know we’re big buddies, and he’ll give up his nuclear weapons. I’ll let Putin know we’re big buddies, and he’ll get out of Ukraine.’ That’s the only way I could rationalize it, but I really don’t know,” said Tillerson, who was fired by Trump in March 2018 following numerous clashes over foreign policy.

more
https://thehill.com/policy/international/533820-tillerson-we-squandered-the-best-opportunity-we-had-on-north-korea

[still_one]

1. Much of it documented in Bob Woooward's book Rage

[efhmc]

2. Everything is always about Trump and if it is not and the other world leaders do not

pander to him he looks to the strong men to manipulate him with false praise and promises.

[gohuskies]

3. This is squarely on America's Caligula and Pompous Pompeo

They have completely dropped the ball on so many issues and left us vulnerable. Jan. 20th cannot come too quickly.

[JHB]

4. That's how he rationalized Trumps "buddies with dictators" behavior?

Not as "he wants to be part of the club"?

I'm going to assume Tillerson is whitewashing his own culpability here, because if he actually believed that he's dumber than topsoil.