He'll Huff And He'll Puff And He'll...What?

Would it be terrible of me to say I'm just not that afraid of Kim Jong Il? Partly because his "indigenous 100 %" scientists are among the world's worst (here's a story confirming what the mil-bloggers have been saying for days --that Monday's blast was a failure). But mostly because I see him as a tin-pot dictator concerned mostly with maintaining his own power --as opposed to say, Abombnjihad, who wouldn't mind melting away in a mushroom cloud himself, so long as You-Know-Who goes first.


The biggest danger from Kim is that he sells what he's got to other bad guys --which, when it comes down to it, is relatively easily prevented by blockade, no? Presuming, of course, that China is on our side on this one. China terrifies me, but here's an interesting piece about that --arguing that China is now so addicted to our and the South Korean markets, that it won't allow Kim to hurt us --and that therefore Kim overplayed his hand on Monday. It's the most sensible thing I've read so far about Norko & China.

The Clinton administration attempted to buy the nukes with economic carrots, the Bush administration (with its six-nation talks) tried to pry the nukes loose using a diplomatic "squeeze." Neither gambit worked, because both strategies to be effective relied on steady Chinese cooperation.

That is why the nuke test may boomerang. North Korea's July missile volley embarrassed China. The nuclear test appears to have galvanized Beijing.

RTW (short) T. Oh, and here's a link to photos from within Norko itself (taken illicitly by a Russian web designer). I ran across the site this summer, but my ancient, dying computer doesn't show the pix --only the text-- so I didn't post. But now ninme's recommending them, so they must be worthwhile. Even the text alone is instructive.