[Shermy]

Ping. Mostly non-spin.

[caisson71]

Geeeze!! Every "adult" who knows the real story about the Easter Bunny knew the Koreans would lie and cheat. Only Klintoon and his circus, the lamestream media and anti-American liberals tried to convince us otherwise.

[Parley Baer]

Not exactly how Klintoon remembers it. Everything was peachy keen until Bush took over. I like the part on how the INSPECTORS found nothing. What does that say about the inspection in Iraq. Go GW. Parley

[Billthedrill]

As I said in another thread, it's essentially a protection racket, and they're working it against both the South Koreans and the Japanese, both of whom (and the EU) are paying for the light-water reactors. The thugs' idea is to make getting out of the protection messier than paying up. Even if you bring in your own muscle - the U.S. military - even then, the store still gets trashed during the fight. This means that South Korea won't want to take a chance on losing Seoul, close to the border that it is. The Japanese are vulnerable all along a very narrow North/South axis and the North Koreans have demonstrated a missile that will reach its extremities and beyond, which was all along obviously their motivation for doing that particularly provocative form of testing.

The North Koreans needed cash and expertise to accomplish this state of affairs, both quite readily available from the Chinese and the Russians. Keeping it covert requires LOTS of cash. Multiple facilities, still more.

They're dancing on the Chinese string, IMHO. Without a continued cash infusion their program dies just about where we were in 1947. And what does China want in this expanded protection racket? Taiwan.

[r9etb]

What's interesting in all of this is how quickly the Clintonoids swarmed out to spin this. I heard Gary Ackerman on Hannity and he was slimy. (He also wiped the floor with Dan Burton.) This article makes clear that Wendy Sherman's little interview was pure CYA (which we knew).

The real lesson here is that, while one cannot blame Clinton for NK's bomb program, one can fault them for their credulous acceptance of NK's initial promise, and then their coverup (which continues) of NK's continued efforts.

Another feather in Clinton's cap, and further proof that history will not be kind to his administration.

[Billthedrill]

Now, let's not think that the Japanese and the South Koreans are stupid or ill-informed. The Japanese now have the Aegis technology and will almost certainly expand that from frigate level to cruiser. The Chinese will object but I think that will fall on very deaf ears - they helped cause this and everyone in Asia knows it. The Chinese will huff and puff but they will accept it. What will really throw stuff in the fan is if the Japanese escalate to the next level, activating a nuclear program that they are exquisitely capable of instituting on short notice. And for which, I would suspect, have long had contingency plans. I would suspect it would take a North Korean nuclear detonation for the Japanese to take that step. (If they haven't already). I further suspect that there is a bone of contention between the North Koreans and the Chinese - the former want to set off a nuke to forestall U.S. military action, the latter will resist to avoid overly antagonizing Japan. And that's about the only thing between this situation and and all-out arms race in Asia, and if the UN isn't sweating bullets over this one it's because they're heavily medicated.

[smalltown]

Isn't it a little odd that the press hasn't yet jumped on the timing or truthfulness of this story. I haven't seen confirmation or denial from the North Koreans, yet it seems that the facts haven't been questioned.

I say odd because they haven't shied away from doubting anything else Rumsfeld has had to say but the NK nuke story is accepted as gospel. And it does appear to strenghten Bush's hand and throw a bad light on Clinton and Carter.

And, no, I'm not saying that I doubt it, just that the press's handling of the story is out of character and was wondering if anyone else saw it that way.

[Joee]

I spent a week in South Korea in 92 and went up to the DMZ twice. It doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to figure that the NK's couldn't be trusted then and they had a permanent hatred for the U.S. They would have taken a great delight in killing any American at that time. They haven't changed one iota, but thanks to Slime Clinton and his ilk, they now have the power to do in big bunches at the same time.

[L.N. Smithee]

Nuclear North Korea. Well, well, well. After trying so hard to establish a legacy, Clinton's finally done it.

At this rate, twenty years from now he'll finally win the Nobel Prize for accomplishing virtually nothing.