Whats wrong with this picture?

From NPR:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters the United States is open to negotiations with North Korea to "keep the crisis from escalating."

[...]

Rice's trip to Asia is aimed at boosting support in South Korea and China for sanctions against North Korea.

clickhereforallofit

Maybe I don't fully understand what sanctions are, or whatever the Bush administration means by "sanctions" these days, but it doesn't seem like a form of negotiation to me. And I think the term "open to negotiations" kind of goes out the window when you're pushing for sanctions. Like, "We're open to anything, but mostly just sanctions." I can't believe Rice is actually trying to make it sound like the administration wants to negotiate.

I guess they really mean to negotiate with South Korea and China about placing sanctions against North Korea. Thats really the only way to make sense of it.

But, how dumb am I being by trying to rationalize something the Bush administration is doing?