POKER VERSUS CHESS

What to do about the North Korean situation? The military option seems too dangerous, given Seoul's proximity to the DMZ and the possibility of a nuclear exchange. Today, Pyongyang said that sanctions would amount to war, and that it would act accordingly. That's fairly typical of the overheated rhetoric we've come to expect from the North--they get to be the wicked, irresponsible party and can say largely whatever they like, while it's up to the rest of the world to react and keep them in check. So if an overt military strike and sanctions both amount to war, what can we do to keep peace and disarm Kim?

Here's an interesting strategy that I've been pondering for a few days, and about which I can't make up my mind. I like the basic outlook of it--that American foreign policy is essentially similar to poker, while our adversaries are typically of the chess mindset, and that this gives us a distinct advantage. But as to the particulars, dropping "smart spears" on the Yongbyon nuclear weapons factory and threatening to annihilate the North's army via neutron bombs before it can strike--I don't know. It seems to me that the North would blame us for anything that happened to its nuke plant whether we'd actually destroyed it or not, so if we happened to hit it there wouldn't be much of a delay between that act and Pyongyang launching an artillery barrage to level Seoul. Anyhow, check out the linked story. It's very interesting, and gives a bit of insight into some of the angles that are probably being discussed down in DC and in Asia nowadays.

And I do like the poker vs chess metaphor. It seems apt, especially with President Bush.