I disagree - this was a well executed political maneuver by the administration, that will have significant political benefits to the democratic party, and most importantly to Mr. Clinton's future as a power broker. Two major goals were accomplished, most importantly we rescued two American citizens from 12 years of tortuous imprisonment in the infamous Kwan li sow's, secondly we denied the North Koreans the legitimacy of meeting directly with the president; a president who is more than willing to sit down with cambridge cops and professors but will snub a tyrant acting out. Not to mention we were able to get people past the bamboo curtain to directly evaluate the health of the DPRK regime's leader.
Although I disagree with the POTUS on many things he has perfected the art of speaking with ones enemies, without speaking with his enemies.