"It's pronounced nucular Lisa. Nucular."

Great editorial in the NYT about nuclear proliferation. Here's a good quote: "America's nuclear creativity should be focused on convincing nations like Iran and North Korea that nuclear weapons will not enhance their own security."

Let's set up a hypothetical situation. Suppose we have a dictator - let's call him Kim Jong-Il - who is in charge of a country - let's call it North Korea. Now this country happens to be on the shit list - let's call it the Axis of Evil - of another country - let's call it the USA - and it's president - let's call him W. Ok, so this isn't so much hypothetical as it is true.

Anyway, the USA recently invaded another country, Iraq. The stated reasons for invading Iraq were it's WMD programs - which have since been all but proven nonexistant - and it's ties to terrorist organizations - which have also been found to be pretty shady. Recently, W and his advisors have started taking a different track. They've been focusing on the creation of an Iraqi democracy and how the removal of Iraq's dictator, Hussein, was important. Tyranny breeds terror, dontchaknow.

Now, let's return to Kim Jong-Il. Kim is worried about his country, but more importantly he's worried about his power. He knows America doesn't like him and would prefer to see him begging for spare change at the local 7-11. He knows America has invaded another country in the recent past, just to remove a dictator and set up a democracy. He knows his armed forces cannot compete with America. So what does he do?

He does what any self-respecting dictator would do. He goes out and builds himself a nuclear bomb. Can't say I'm surprised.