Useful Fools

North Korea has apparently agreed to six-way talks, a result the US has been trying for months to achieve.

Now comes the fun…

Will they drop a verbal bomb and torpedo the talks at the start, like they did in China the last time?

Will they stall for time while continuing their programs, exchanging the old communist “Talk Talk, Fight Fight” approach for a “Talk Talk, Enrich Enrich” strategy?

Will China behave as an ally of the North, or actually help with the situation?

Let’s say all goes well. Talks are held. The Norks even agree to get rid of their nukes, in exchange for money, oil and lots of porno movies for Dear Leader.

How the heck are we ever going to verify the destruction of their nuclear materials and the ongoing termination of the program? They have 12,000-16,000 underground facilities! They are a paranoid totalitarian Stalinist state which is hardly likely to allow unimpeded surprise inspections all over the country.

Enough plutonium to make a nifty bomb is about the size of a softball, and the radiation levels are low enough you don’t need any shielding. In other words, the stuff is really easy to hide or smuggle. And apparently they already have a bunch of it, enough for several bombs.

I’m not getting out the balloons and party favors yet.

This is still a very, very hairy situation, and lots of things could go wrong.

But at least we can hope!