Grim's Hall

More on North Korea:

Wargames between the South Korean and US forces have been going on not far from the DMZ.

It takes place this year just as the world is watching North Korea warily. The communist government has issued shrill warnings saying it believes the Bush administration's doctrine of preemptive attack will be applied to North Korea quickly after Iraq. Pyongyang has threatened not to wait.

The North has taken steps that could lead to production of nuclear weapons fuel, thrown out U.N. nuclear inspectors and declared past agreements to limit its nuclear ambitions void. It has fired off small rockets, and appeared to prepare for a test of a ballistic missile. Its MiG fighters have zoomed close to a U.S. reconnaissance plane the Pentagon says was in international airspace. . . .

The Pentagon has long claimed the United States could wage two wars at once. But some analysts believe North Korea has concluded the American military is strained by the Iraqi attack, and Pyongyang would seize this moment to create a military crisis.

Those analysts say Washington underestimates Pyongyang's paranoia, and its belief that the military exercises are a pretext for attack preparations. Returning from a visit to North Korea on Saturday, U.N.envoy Maurice Strong said in Beijing that North Korea was preparing for possible war with Washington.

The bright lines of logic are all drawing to an intersection. The DPRK says these wargames have brought the penninsula "to the brink of nuclear war." It isn't just these games that have done it, but I agree with the assessment otherwise. They are calling down the thunder. George Tenet recently said that the "declassified answer" as to whether or not the DPRK could hit the United States west coast with nuclear missles was "yes." That missile test mentioned in the block quote is the Taepodong 2, which can hit the entire United States.

The bright lines of logic aren't always right, though they have a better track record than most. This looks like a sea of fire, or perhaps several such: The DPRK has lately threatened to turn Seoul into a 'sea of fire', Tokyo into a 'sea of fire', American cities into a 'sea of fire', and American officials feel as though they are walking above a sea of fire.

Swear to fearlessness for the days ahead.

"Courage is better than the power of a sword
For I've seen men fighting bravely victorious with blunt weapons;
Cheerfulness is better than snivelling,
Whatever may be at hand."
Sigurd Dragonslayer, "Lay of Fafnir," from _The Elder Edda_