Korean Kooks: I don't know that I agree with the "minor military challenge" part. Look how freaked out the U.S. politicos got, and the media amplified this feeling, when it took three whole weeks to subdue Iraq. Now, the North Koreans may be starving, and without much hope, but they have one large armed force that does nothing but train all day long (when they're not doing highly coordinated interpretive dance routines in Kim's honor). They also have had about 40 good years to absorb the propaganda machine re: the U.S. being the evil imperialists. Now, might the soldiers start lying down when they're getting pounded? Yes. But I dare say the Koreans would be more than willing to sacrifice a goodly number of their own as long as they take a bunch of us with them. We, on the other hand, lack such intestinal and political fortitude. They have nothing to lose which makes them so dangerous. While Kim Jong will want to hold onto his power, if he sees no way out, then there's no reason he won't start getting itchy on the big red button. The Korean dilemma fascinates me. What's more interesting, of course, is that Jong Il admits he's developing nuclear weapons (hell he throws it in our face every chance he gets) and all we do is send more ambassadors. Saddam was only suspected of having chemical weapons, and we went hog wild. Why? Well, say it with me: "Because we could." With N. Korea, it's not obvious that we can.