Amos if that is the article messers Legum, Shakir, Pitney, Terkel and Schwin wrote then all I can say is that they are being tremendously selective in their interpretation of things.

Are they stating that during the Clinton era no missile tests were carried out? What about the one they test fired over Japan? That one did not count? Or was it just too inconvenient to their arguement to mention. Caused one hell of a stink at the time.

When did the process of nuclear disarmament stop? Sometime in the Clinton era when both India and Pakistan tested their newly acquired nuclear devices - Guess who helped Pakistan catch up in terms of delivery systems and what did they receive in return.

At no time at all during US/North Korean bilateral talks did the North Koreans ever give up their programme towards acquiring nuclear weapons, at no time at all did the North Koreans halt in their development of longer range delivery systems.

These clowns are trying to tell us that in two years North Korea enriched enough uranium to produce 10 warheads? Sorry all this was done during the Clinton Administration, the North Koreans themselves admitted so.

North Korea has always played threat and reward in the blackmailing of it's neighbours whenever it has engaged in bilateral talks. With five other parties involved they could always say something to one or two of them that would prevent the five partners ever getting together to collectively call North Korea to order. That is what the Bush administration realised right from the start, that is what China, South Korea, Russia and Japan have come to realise recently.