Bright Star

How should we, as Americans, feel about North Korea's failed missile launch last week? When that rocket went up in the air, the world took a deep breath: Would we all have to start worrying about another nation with the ability to toss nuclear weapons about the globe? Or at the very least, send sneaky spy satellites into the skies above us, sending back information as to our whereabouts and goings-on? Of course, they could just dial up Google Earth if they really wanted to know where we were keeping all those capitalistic icons, but that's beside the point. When it disintegrated ninety-three miles into its journey into infamy, the state-run media of North Korea described the situation as the missile “failed to enter its preset orbit." The South Koreans were far too busy snickering into their hands to describe it themselves, but they did roll their eyes a bit as most of the rest of the world went into scolding mode: “We urge the North Korean leadership to honor its agreements and refrain from a pursuing a cycle of provocation,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday in Washington after a Group of Eight foreign ministers’ meeting. “It can pursue peace and reap the benefits of closer ties with the international community, including the United States, or it can continue to face pressure and isolation.”
In the meantime, the scientists in North Korea seem determined to go with their government's planned nuclear test. In a cave. Underground. In their own country. And that deal for food aid from the United States? Sorry. Currently it's the civilians of North Korea who have the most to worry about when it comes to North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile program.