Death of North Korean leader provides opportunities for U.S.

The secret construction in Syria of a plutonium production reactor in 2007 should have crossed a red line for the Bush administration. It apparently did not. Had it not been for Israel's version of a nonproliferation policy — aerial bombardment of the site — the Middle East might already have been fundamentally changed by the North's outrageous move. Our security is endangered by any such transfers, which make nuclear terrorism and the loss of whole cities entirely plausible. Our government needs to make sure the new government in North Korea never attempts such transfers again.

Robert L. Gallucci is president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and was the chief negotiator with North Korea during the administration of President Bill Clinton. Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate.