I have mentioned this before, but both the U.S. and Israel operate under the assumption that some countries can be bombed without any consequences. It doesn't apply to all countries, just some. The bombable ones, countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, probably most African countries, are not going to retaliate in any meaningful way to a bombing on their territory, even if the government gets really mad about it. That leaves countries like the U.S. and Israel (and also a handful of other countries that are so inclined, like the UK and France) a free hand to bomb whenever they want to. They would never bomb a site in say, Germany or China, without the cooperation of the government of those countries. Those countries have economic or military clout. They can hit back, one way or the other. The countries that can't hit back are fair game for the more powerful countries in the world.
Sometimes I think that is what is really driving the North Korea issue. Not too long ago, North Korea was a bombable country. Now that it has nuclear weapons, it probably isn't., at least not without a pretty horrendous cost. That leaves the U.S. and other major powers at a total loss of how to deal with a government that does whatever the fuck it wants, notwithstanding the wishes of the rest of the world. We really have only one way to keep those lesser countries in line.
Sometimes I think that is what is really driving the North Korea issue. Not too long ago, North Korea was a bombable country. Now that it has nuclear weapons, it probably isn't., at least not without a pretty horrendous cost. That leaves the U.S. and other major powers at a total loss of how to deal with a government that does whatever the fuck it wants, notwithstanding the wishes of the rest of the world. We really have only one way to keep those lesser countries in line.
