The axis of evil breaks up

It looks like we finally got back to where we were with North Korea before the Bush administration dissed them with "axis of evil" talk five years ago.

BEIJING, Tuesday, Feb. 13 — North Korea agreed today to close its main nuclear reactor in exchange for a package of food, fuel and other aid from the United States, China, South Korea and Russia. The breakthrough, announced by the Chinese government after intense negotiations, came four months after North Korea tested a nuclear bomb.

And, just how did we get there? We got there by doing the opposite of the Cheney doctrine. We actually went and talked to them. We actually negotiated with an "evil enemy," the very embodiment of heresy in the Cheney world. We should have stormed out of the talks (as we did five years ago) and pounded our shoe on the table as we left. That would be Cheney's approach.

What brought Bush around on this? I guess that even he knows that we can't have war with Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, and North Korea all at the same time.