“Why should I care about North Korea?”

In State of Denial, Bob Woodward recounts a conversation between then-Gov. George W. Bush and then-Saudi ambassador to the U.S. Prince Bandar, in which Bush wonders why he should care about North Korea. “I get these briefings on all parts of the world,” Bush said, “and everybody is talking to me about North Korea.”

LSB: Why should you care? Let’s start with 37,000 U.S. troops less than an hour away from the DMZ, you imbecile!

Chicago Sun-Times:

North Korea is believed to have been accumulating plutonium for a bomb since the mid-1980s. It froze the program in 1994 [Clinton Admin] as part of an agreement with the United States. Since the breakdown of that agreement in late 2002, North Korea is believed to have ramped up production.

Some experts estimate that at least 80 percent of the country's stockpile of 44 to 116 pounds of refined plutonium was processed since the end of the freeze in 2002 [Bush Admin].

Without another agreement, North Korea is forecast to boost its stockpile to 160 pounds by 2008 -- enough to build between eight and 17 bombs.

LSB: Will everyone who feels Bush has made us safe please raise their hand?

hellinabucket: If the conflict in Iraq is just a “,” what is N. Korea? a “?”. I guess that makes Bush a “:”

Spudge_Boy: “Who could have predicted that North Korea was serious when they said they were going nuclear.” Condalezza Rice in 3… 2…1