Devoid of any coherent strategy from the White House, the situation in North Korea is rapidly escalating out of control. When Pyongyang removed cameras and sensors from a dormant nuke plant, we sent up spy planes to confirm resumption of their nuclear weapons program. Intercepting our surveillance aircraft with MIG fighters has induced 24 U.S. bombers to be deployed in Guam. A few small missteps and we are miles down the Cold – War Road. How did we get from the “axis of evil” to the brink of full thermonuclear exchange? Probably the same way that a bag of fajitas precipitated indictments of six high ranking San Francisco police officers.

As for Saddam, the French have shown no stomach for conflict. This dyspepsia has a known etiology – namely oil giant TotalFina Elf’s multi-billion dollar Iraqi gamble. At a million bucks per smart bomb this war won’t come cheap for us either. Self interest aside, we Americans are simply more resilient than the Euros: All star French chef Bernard Loiseau committed suicide after a leading restaurant guide cut his rating, whereas bad reviews can’t stop Mariah Carey from singing.