The Wall Street Journal runs an editorial on the State Department's Lekowitz problem:
Listen to the U.S. State Department, and the six-party talks with North Korea are working: Pyongyang has agreed to abandon its nuclear program, China and South Korea are stepping up their diplomatic roles, and all Washington needs is patience. Enter Jay Lefkowitz, President Bush's Special Envoy for Human Rights in North Korea, with a reality check. In a speech Thursday in Washington, Mr. Lefkowitz said "it is increasingly clear" that the Bush Administration will end with North Korea remaining "in its present nuclear status." In other words, Pyongyang will not honor its promises.
Which is why Lefkowitz proposes tying aid directly to verifiable progress on human rights and disarmament. As the editors at the Journal point out, there is reason to hope that the Bush administration may yet move towards the position Lefkowitz is advocating:
Mr. Lefkowitz's words bear special notice because he is close to Mr. Bush, who appointed him, and to whom he reports. A State Department spokesman said Friday that his "comments certainly don't represent the views of the Administration." Then again, maybe they do.
We should hope so.