Iran is, if Israeli intelligence is to be believed (and I believe it), working hard to build a nuclear weapon.
US politicians are calling for sanctions against Iran. Military action is out of the question - unless, of course, if the US can convince Israel to do the job.
North Korea likely already HAS a nuke and, like the Iranians, at least mid-range delivery systems, a/k/a rockets.
But does anyone hear the US politicians calling for an international boycott of North Korea?
Who is crazier? Iran's ayatollahs - the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , does what the ayatollahs tell him, or North Korea's Kim dynasty?
Perhaps the difference is because the Kims are primarily a threat to South Korea and, to a lesser degree, Japan and the US Alaskan coast.
Iran, on the other hand, is a threat to much of Europe and many Islamic states that seek US protection when it suits them and encourage terror against the US when the threat is less likely.
I'm suddenly reminded of a couple of Rudyard Kipling ditties:
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For God and the soldier we adore,
In time of danger, not before!
The danger passed, and all things righted,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted."
When you're wounded out on Afghanistan's plains
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Then just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
And die like a good British soldier!
I suppose the latter lines lack "political correctness" but no apologies.
The world seems to be up in arms about Iran, but ignoring North Korea.
Perhaps because North Korea has China as its sponsor and China, unlike the "former USSR,", Iran's BFF, still has some clout.
Meanwhile, the US politicians are Twittering to Iranians to go into the streets a la Egypt.
Are the Iranians really that simple?
The ayatollahs will order the Republican Guards to shoot to kill - they are good at killing civilians despite their turn-and-run experience when they faced a real military power. Killing protesters has worked before in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Syrian-controlled Lebanon.
Unlike Egypt, where the army traditionally has been a friend - less or more - of the general populace, the armies of the afore mentioned countries have a very different reputation.
Where will the US politicians be if the locals do rise up against their masters?
Hiding under their beds as they did in 1956 when the Hungarians rose up against Russia, and later when the Czechoslovakians revolted in 1968. (For what its worth, both major US political parties share the blame for false promises.)
Where is the encouragement of the North Korean to rise up against the Kims and the army. Where, I wonder, does the North Korean army stand? Loyal to the Kims?
The bottom line: Why do US politicians think Iran is a greater threat than North Korea?
