John McCain Criticizes Clintons on North Korea

Oct. 11, 2006 — -- The North Korean nuclear crisis is causing a political showdown in the United States between Sen. John McCain and his potential rival in the race for the White House, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her husband, Bill Clinton.

McCain is pinning the blame for North Korea's recent claims of nuclear testing on former President Clinton. He is also attacking the New York senator for her stance on North Korea.

On Tuesday, McCain accused former President Clinton of failing to act in the 1990s to stop North Korea from developing nuclear weapons.

"I was responding to attacks made on the Bush record," McCain said to Diane Sawyer today on "Good Morning America."

"I'd be glad to have a time-out here. I'd be eager to, at least during this very difficult period, while we try to marshal the world trying to reign in North Korea's nuclear ambitions."

Still, McCain maintained that the Clinton administration had enabled North Korea to apparently develop nuclear weapons.

"Having said that, during the Clinton administration years, here we concluded an unenforceable and untransparent agreement, which allowed [North Korea] to keep plutonium rods in a reactor … in order to make them nuclear material," McCain said. "[His negotiations] would put them on the path to develop nuclear weapons. … And we did nothing but more talk."

At a news conference Tuesday, McCain called Clinton's dealings with North Korea a failure.

"I would remind Sen. [Hillary] Clinton and other Democrats critical of the Bush administration's policies that the framework agreement her husband's administration negotiated was a failure," McCain said after a campaign appearance for Republican Senate candidate Mike Bouchard.

"The Koreans received millions and millions in energy assistance. They've diverted millions of dollars of food assistance to their military," he said.

Hillary Rodham Clinton's spokesman dismissed McCain's criticism.

"Now is not the time to play politics of the most dangerous kind with our policy on North Korea," said her spokesman, Philippe Reines, in a statement.

"History is clear that nothing the Bush administration has done has stopped the North Koreans from openly testing a nuclear weapon and presenting a new danger to the region of the world."