So North Korea has the Bomb ...

This is not terribly surprising as many in the Foreign Policy sections of the West have been predicting this for some time. The inability to forestall this occurrence is essentially another failure of the Bush Administration.

The geo-political facts of the last seven years have been thus:

* Al Qaeda masterminded the attacks of 9/11 with the full co-operation of the Taliban in Afghanistan;

* Iran and Syria are destabilising forces in the Middle-East;

* Saudi Arabian nationals have been providing financial support to Terror Groups that have been spreading mayhem in the Middle-East and in the West;

* North Korea is a rogue state and a disrupter of the strategic balance in Northern Asia.

Only in the matter of Afghanistan has the US acted/participated (along with NATO) in a meaningful mission to effect positive change. In the case of Iraq, the US Administration is not only "off-message," but off-course as well.

The American misadventure in Iraq has manifested itself completely, and predictably, in the detonation of a Nuclear Device in North Korea. By losing sight of reality and conducting the invasion of Iraq, the US has completely dropped the ball and allowed negative outcomes in almost every one of these cases.

Iraq was a non-factor and represented no threat to the domestic security of the United States and the Western Alliance. Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea are threats in various ways - and by various means.

Iran and North Korea are now even more serious problems for the West. Syria and Saudi Arabia are still festering sores on the face of the Globe. Yet, the Bush Administration has not used its position as the lone Superpower to any efficacious end.

And now it appears that China and Russia will do nothing more than register a severe protest at the latest insanity to emerge from Pyongyang. If the USA, so mired in a useless and ill-advised campaign in Iraq, cannot negotiate an application of its will on China and Russia, then perhaps this is the first sign that the US is losing the grip on its hegemonic position across the Globe.

That didn't last long did it?

So much for PNAC ...

Postscript

Here is a nice overview of the US record on the North Korea file.