[Thermodyne]

Artaud said:
What should the US do?

Nothing.

North Korea has had the bomb for years. Israel, too, has had the bomb (about 200 of them, in fact) for years, and is subject to no international inspections at all. Neither is the US.

Inspect everybody, or inspect nobody.

And by the way, Pakistan has the bomb, and the technology to mount it on missiles. Pakistan's intelligence service is closely allied to the remnants of the Taliban. Who, then, is more likely to give or sell nuclear technology to terrorists?

Yet Pakistan is regarded as a "friend" of the US.

As for North Korea being a bully, how many soldiers do they have stationed outside their own borders? How many does the US have?

What gives the USA the right to give orders to other countries? The US has said repeatedly that it intends to "end" the North Korean state. Any North Korean leader would be irresponsible for NOT taking any steps necessary to ensure his survival. MAYBE "THEY" ARE SCARED OF "US."

And please, don't bring up North Korea's aggression in the Korean War, because there is plenty of not-so-distant US history that is equally disgusting. Americans are very quick to howl about somebody else's crimes and develop amnesia when reminded of their own. The US is not the only country on Earth, and its people need to stop thinking they are. Why does the US feel the need (and the right) to meddle in the internal affairs of countries thousands of miles away, while denying that those countries have legitimate interests in what goes on RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO THEM. (see: Iranian and Syrian "interference" in Iraq...am I the only person who laughs out loud when Bush's representatives complain darkly about foreign "interference" in Iraq????)

The North Koreans have long pressed for direct talks with the US. Why not talk to them directly then? Is it really better to keep issuing threats? (by the way, Syrian President Asad has repeatedly approached the US for talks on all outstanding issues, on the grounds that the two countries have common interests in many areas, including working against Islamic extremists, but Bush has refused to even reply...the Syrians have even offered to end their rather chilly alliance of convenience with Hezbollah as part of a broad agreement to join with the US on a number of issues...but I digress...)

The only reason the US has not invaded North Korea yet is that South Korea is desperate to avoid an East German-style collapse. They fear that their economy would not be able to survive such an event.

Does anybody out there really believe tiny North Korea is going to commit suicide by attacking the US with a nuclear weapon? It's downright racist to think that somehow "we" (who have used the bomb and still have thousands available, and a new warfighting doctrine that explicitly allows their future "first use") can be trusted with The Bomb, while "they" (that "crazy" Stalinist Asian) can't be trusted.

There's a book called "North Korea" by Bruce Cumings. EVERYBODY should read it.

Everybody should also read the book "Afghan Guerilla Warfare" by my friend Col Les Grau, who is probably the leading US expert on Afghanistan. He was traveling covertly to and lecturing on Afghanistan looooooong before September 2001, and if you want to know how silly it is for the US to think it can hold Afghanistan with 20,000 soldiers (or 100,000, for that matter), you need to read this book.

Anyway, you guys can flame me if you want, but I'm not returning to this thread to read them.

You don't have a clue!