Mitchell Reiss Quotes (37 Quotes)

And it has to do with having no inventory or stockpiles on the shelf, but items arrive as you need to build your product. What that means is that it's much more difficult to actually find stockpiles of already built weapons.

Sometimes we tend to focus more on the personalities and the conflicts, and it really caricatures the issues.

And I think they realize that the other five countries are lined up against them, because all five are opposed to North Korea having nuclear weapons.

And so there has been a lot of diplomatic movement.

There is a different future that is available to North Korea, if they choose differently.

First of all, I think the situation today is different. We're in a different place than we were in '93, '94.

We need to do a lot more thinking about how the regime is going to evolve, how the bad guys are going to adapt their tactics, and what measures we're going to need in order to go forward.

What we can do is to explain as clearly as possible what the benefits would be of him going down one path, and what the potential consequences would be if he chooses another path.

I'm not sure you can do anything quickly or easily with the North.

The nexus between terrorism and nuclear weapons, or even nuclear material, is obviously a current concern.

What we're doing now in terms of our diplomacy with Libya is to ensure that that in fact comes true that there are tangible and intangible benefits for Libya-with us, with our European partners, with Libya's neighbors in the region- as it is welcomed back into the community of nations.

The negotiations are continuing now through the media.

So the president set out the policy guidance and said it had to take place in a multilateral fashion so that other countries in the region could be invested in the success of this process.

Any agreement that you have isn't going to be based on North Korea's intentions or trust.

The other countries did not share the same concern the United States had in the early '90's - that North Korea actually had an ongoing nuclear weapons program.

We have a model that we're following, and it's the Libya model.

And it's time for Sinn Fein to be able to say that explicitly, without ambiguity, without ambivalence, that criminality will not be tolerated.

You have to play the cards you are dealt and if it has made it harder, it doesn't matter, you still have to get the deal done.

Everyone I have spoken with so far recognises the need for the IRA to respond positively and every has said sooner is better than later and I think there is some concern if it does continue to delay much longer that the situation isn't going to remain the same.

First of all we have to recognize that despite all the problems - and in some cases failures - that this regime has been much more successful, much more resilient, than people had anticipated.

It is fundamentally, existentially, in their own interest that they and their neighbors do not acquire nuclear weapons.

And it's not surprising that there should be disagreement - it'd be a little surprising if there was complete consensus on any foreign policy issue.

Now North Korea certainly is located in a different place geographically, but I think it faces the same type of strategic decision. Does it want a different future for its people?

Again, I think we have much greater diplomatic weight by having all of us sit on the same side of the table wanting the same thing, and putting it to the North Koreans.

The format's better because it gives us a much stronger hand to play when going to the North Koreans unified, with our allies and partners in the region, all of us saying the same thing: telling them their current course is unacceptable.

Then the final thing is enforcement. What happens when we actually catch somebody who has violated international law, rules, and regulations

We are hopeful that the North Koreans can show a little bit more realism, a little bit more flexibility.

But with lots of good ideas, implementation is the key, and so we need to keep our eye on the ball as we go forward and make sure that people honor their pledges in terms of financial commitments, and that we actually use this money so that it makes a real difference.

It's time for the IRA to go out of business.

So, in a sense, the verification piece is irrelevant to the format issue.

What Libya did was make a strategic determination that it would have a better future-a more secure, a more prosperous future-if it abandoned its weapons of mass destruction.

They would rather the United States play the bad cop, and they could play the good cop - let the United States do all the heavy lifting here.

Or perhaps they didn't share it at all, but they were happy that the United States wanted to go ahead and deal with North Korea, that was fine.

The Nuclear Suppliers Group is one area the president highlighted in his speech that's extremely important and that needs to be improved.

You are either going forward or you are not.

No political party, and certainly no responsible political leadership, deserves to serve in a government unless it cooperates and supports fully and unconditionally the police, and calls on its supporters to do so.

It's up to Kim Jong Il to make that decision, and we can't make that for him.