Updated

I've said it before but it bears repeating... who out there wants Iraq to turn out to be another North Korea, about to load up a nuke bomb and threatening the world to hand over its money or else?

That's what this is... an international mugging. North Korea wants to build this bomb so it can say to South Korea and to Japan and to the U.S., "Your wallet or your life".

Notice I didn't include China in that list. When it comes to human wave assaults, the Chinese own the patent and the North Koreans are the little brother wannabes.

But still, North Korea's human wave assaults would be a problem for us and a problem for South Korea and Japan... so we gotta take it seriously, but China doesn't.

Now... does North Korea want to actually set off its nuclear bomb? Definitely not. At least not until they build no. 2.

No. 1 can't go boom until no. 2 is safely built and tucked away. Likewise, you can't blow up no. 2 until no. 3 is built.

What can we do except deal with them some way or another? We can't attack, because they'll blow up 37,000 Americans.

So give Saddam Hussein this leverage and what happens then?

I'll tell you what: $5 a gallon gas, for starters. Saddam will use all that extra money to build more bombs.

And then when he's got the world economy in his pocket, he can do what he wants and we can stand around watching, and clucking our tongues in disapproval.

Our superpower days would then be over. What good would all our nukes be if one punk can stand us down with one little puny nuke of his own?

That's My Word .

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