Steven Den Beste has one of his typically astute and well-researched pieces on why it is North Korea that is under a time lock and not the US.
We have the ability to fight simultaneously in both Iraq and North Korea if need be. That is beyond question. We would not want to, and it would be a strain, but it is quite possible. We don’t have to quickly stop everything in Iraq to deal with North Korea right now, because we have that final option at our disposal. (I’d also argue that a war in Iraq would be quick enough that we could start shifting forces to Korea in a matter of weeks.)
North Korea, however, is facing a severe lack of food and fuel oil, and they cannot operate their military without these resources. This is why they’ve been saber-rattling so much lately, because they need to. I agree with Mr. Den Beste, eventually they will realize that their current course of action is foolish and will start making fewer demands and cooperating more. Still, if worst comes to worse, we’re ready, and that means that we have the ability to focus on one problem at a time.
