North Korea Comes Out

I know we're all focused on Gannongate right now, but check out this news story.

North Korea has formally announced that they possess nuclear weapons, and has pulled out of the six nation disarmament talks. They have cited "U.S. Aggression" as the reason for both their development of a nuclear arsenal and their withdrawal from treaty negotiations.

This is what happens when you indulge in empty brinksmanship and sabre rattling against a totalitarian regime: you hand the insane despot in question a perfect excuse for arming himself to the teeth. Afterwards, it's difficult to come back to them and whine that you didn't mean all those nasty things you said, and that you really, honestly, cross your heart and hope to die, have absolutely no plans to invade their country. This of course, is precisely what Rice attempted to do today, when she said: "The North Koreans have been told by the president of the United States that the United States has no intention of attacking or invading North Korea," yeah, sure.

I'm so glad that while our armed forces are busy tilting at windmills in Iraq, a country that had no WMD, we've given carte blanche to every tin pot dictator with a nuclear ambition.