RIGHTWINGSPARKLE

What to do about North Korea? The New York Times is reporting that even though North Korea agreed to seal a plutonium-based nuclear program,
..." in 2002, an American official confronted Pyongyang with evidence that it had been cheating on its nuclear promises, maintaining a covert uranium enrichment program.
In response, North Korea expelled international inspectors from Yongbyon, announced that it was quitting the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and said it was building up what it ambiguously called its "nuclear deterrent." The six-nation disarmament talks started in Beijing in August 2003, but have not yielded any tangible results."

The article goes on to say:

".... in today's statement, Pyongyang (a North Korean Foreign Minister) zeroed in on Dr. Rice's testimony last month in her Senate confirmation hearings, where she lumped North Korea with five other dictatorships, calling them "outposts of tyranny."

As much as I admire Dr. Rice, I think this was a mistake on Dr. Rice's part. North Korean's leader Kim Jong is clearly unhinged. It would do Dr. Rice well to choose her words more carefully when dealing with this man. He has a huge ego and does not like to be insulted. Yes, we should not back down from being tough, but words mean things. It wouldn't hurt Dr. Rice to be a bit more diplomatic. I know that sounds simplistic, but we have all known people like this. If it takes a little ego stroking to get him back to the table, then we should do it. If you can't change a situation, you try and control it the best way you can. We simply cannot afford to get into any kind of conflict with North Korea now and Kim Jong knows this and is taking advantage of it. We need to send someone over there now that can do that ego stroking. I don't feel we are in danger. North Korea is known for blowing smoke. But our leaders need to watch how they say things and keep in mind who is listening.