Lessons from USA's approach to the North Korea crisis
Some observers fear Washington's contrasting approach to the threat from North Korea is sending a dangerous message to potential rogue nations.
Jon Wolfsthal of the Carnegie Endowment
told CNN: "The North Korean threat is much more advanced, and because they have the ability to deliver ballistic missiles against our allies, either with chemical or biological weapons, and, in the extreme, possibly with a nuclear warhead, that is directly influencing our willingness to consider military options."
It is precisely because North Korea poses a greater military threat -- on top of its nuclear program it has a million-strong army and thousands of artillery pieces within range of Seoul -- the Bush administration has conspicuously avoided talking about a military solution.
"You don't bomb a nuclear nation. Saddam Hussein does not have nuclear weapons. North Korea does," Henry Sokolski of the Non-Proliferation Education Policy Center says.
"The message you send is: Go get nuclear weapons in a hurry," Leon Sigal, author of the book "Nuclear Diplomacy with North Korea", says.
Lessons from USA's approach to the North Korea crisis
Some observers fear Washington's contrasting approach to the threat from North Korea is sending a dangerous message to potential rogue nations.
Jon Wolfsthal of the Carnegie Endowment
told CNN: "The North Korean threat is much more advanced, and because they have the ability to deliver ballistic missiles against our allies, either with chemical or biological weapons, and, in the extreme, possibly with a nuclear warhead, that is directly influencing our willingness to consider military options."
It is precisely because North Korea poses a greater military threat -- on top of its nuclear program it has a million-strong army and thousands of artillery pieces within range of Seoul -- the Bush administration has conspicuously avoided talking about a military solution.
"You don't bomb a nuclear nation. Saddam Hussein does not have nuclear weapons. North Korea does," Henry Sokolski of the Non-Proliferation Education Policy Center says.
"The message you send is: Go get nuclear weapons in a hurry," Leon Sigal, author of the book "Nuclear Diplomacy with North Korea", says.
