The politics of North Korea

Chances are we will not be bombing North Korea anytime soon. Not because they haven't crossed the line. Not because Osama Bin Laden, and Iraq are still greater threats then North Korea. Not because our military is spread to thin. Not even because we think we can talk out our differences. The real reason we won't aggresivly go after them is because they are actually capable of fighting back, potentially on our own soil.

Every decision president Bush makes in regard to North Korea will be a good one, he knows the price to pay for a mistake is potentially well beyond what any rational American would find forgivable. For the sake of politics there may be a debate on North Korea, but the real leaders in Washington will support the president, because they know he isn't willing to risk failing us.

The real political debate emerging out of this is on Iraq, and the complete farce of a war it is in comparison to the real threat we face from North Korea. We went to Iraq in large part because we needed to show that we didn't put up with the games Iraq played and North Korea is now playing. Of course it was a play as Iraq was no threat and we can not and will not treat North Korea the same way. The nation building we now see in Iraq is a nice gesture given we used there nation to display our muscle. But now that the significance of the Iraq war is lost, we must look at the price we pay to be in Iraq and where our militaries priorities need to be. I'll leave it at that as I don't have all the answers, and there may be a threat in Iraq that is not public knowledge, but we all had the opportunity over the last few days to see what a real threat looks like.