This Is Not a Test...

its an investment in a nuclear future for a nation and government left wanting by years of self imposed economic isolation--no not a nuclear energy future nor even a nuclear weapon future - but a trade, banking, and credit concession filled future due to the threat of nuclear weapons development. The world stage is somewhat bare- the major actors ( U.S., Britain) bogged down in a civil war in Iraq; France, Germany, and most of the EU bogged down in economic competition with the ravenous Chinese economy- this leaves an opening for North Korea to gain concessions it has been unable to gain by diplomacy or other forms of military threats. Japan and China will be in the queue with the major western powers to ante up a price big enough to forestall more development. On the surface it may appear as multilateral negotiations with a strong regional flavor but underneath it all is the newly weakened U.S.--weakened by the enormous strain and expense of Iraq so that adventurous governments everywhere realize that we will be most reluctant to open a new front anywhere. Venezuela, Cuba, various forces in Africa and the middle east will be emboldened by the success of North Korea-- the costs of Iraq are beginning to come back to bother the West-- the Bush Doctrine- the set of policies and circumstances that justified the invasion of Iraq in self defense: to eliminate a threat from weapons of mass destruction and terrorist collaboration. The Bush Doctrine has seen it's second application: the invasion of Iraq was the first; the nuclear arming of North Korea is the second; it appears that more can expected.