North Korea: Psycho Communist Dictatorship, or Monumental US Failure?

Yesterday, the worker's paradise known as North Korea test-launched a long-range missile rumored to have the capability to reach the United States. The launch was a monumental failure, as the missile toppled into the Sea of Japan shortly after launch.

In response to this test, Madeline Albright came out swinging, saying that the test launch was a failure of U.S. diplomacy. Now, granted, Albright has proven herself to be little more than a leftist wacko, but unfortunately, leftist wackos tend to be treated as genuine experts by the media, and Albright is no exception.

My question is this: how is the test launch of a long range missile, which the United States and Japan have been telling North Korea would be considered an extremely threatening move, a failure of U.S. diplomacy? How, exactly, does this work?

Really, this is to be expected: the war in Iraq was seen by the left as a failure of US diplomacy, even though it was Saddam Hussein's actions that precipitated the invasion. Why should this be any different? After all, as time passes, the Left in America moves further and further left, to the point that in another couple of years, the Democratic Party will have to rename themselves the Socialist Party (or maybe even the Communist Party) just to keep from violating Truth in Advertising laws. As lefties like Albright see it, North Korea is nothing but the bright and inevitable future that America should look forward to with baited breath. Forget the fact that the blame for the fact that North Korea has nuclear weapons rests squarely on the shoulders of the Clinton Administration (Albright served as Clinton's Secretary of State). Forget the fact that Albright herself visited North Korea and spoke with Kim Jong Il, and came back talking about what a great place North Korea is and what a great guy Kim Jong Il is (he's just misunderstood, according to her).

Let's face the facts here: Just because the United States and Japan couldn't talk an insane Communist dictator out of performing a missile test that constitutes a threat to the entire region, that doesn't mean that US diplomacy has failed. It does mean that North Korea is not our friend and should not be trusted to do the right thing. It does mean that the US government should have workable military plans to quickly destroy any and all missile facilities in North Korea. It does mean that the US missile shield project is more important than ever.

And finally, it does mean that anyone with any sense at all should disregard pretty much anything that comes from the mouth of Madeline Albright.