It's Official!

North got nukes.

North Korea on Thursday declared itself a de facto nuclear power, claiming in its strongest terms to date that it had "manufactured nuclear weapons" to defend itself from the United States and saying it would withdraw indefinitely from international disarmament talks.

North Korea has been suspected of having not only nuclear capabilities but the weapons themselves for some time now of course, so the announcement is no surprise. If anything it's probably more of a negotiating tactic, an effort to "up the ante" and force the parties involved in the six party talks-and the significant party not involved, the U.S.-into dealing with the North as a bona fide nuclear power.

The administration's response remains essentially unchanged from the response they've been offering since 2001:

In Luxembourg, Rice outlined stark alternatives if the regime of Kim Jong Il does not abandon its "unfortunate" boycott. "With our deterrent capability on the Korean peninsula . . . the United States and its allies can deal with any potential threat from North Korea. And North Korea, I think, understands that. But we are trying to give the North Koreans a different path," Rice said at a press conference with three European Union leaders.

Rice's words are more appropriate then she knows. She means a different path from the path of a military response, but she could also be talking more broadly about the differing responses by the administration to Iran's nuclear ambitions and North Korea's nuclear realities. By this point it's clear that administration's sole focus is on Iran, a country that doesn't even possess nuclear weapons yet, as opposed to North Korea, which not only has the capability to build weapons but is suspected of having a half dozen or more weapons already. Some would argue that the threat Iran poses is greater, in that Iran has a much greater potential to disrupt a much more sensitive area of the world then the North does. In my opinion this is trumped by the fact that North Korea not only has nuclear weapons, but is working on long-range missiles capable of delivering warheads not only to China, but even to the United States, and the fact that North Korea has a desperate desire for hard-earned cash and has demonstrated a clear willingness in the past to sell weapons technology to other nations.

The truth of course is that dealing with North Korea does not comport with the neo-cons larger goal of remaking the Middle East. Their amibitons dulled by the realities of Iraq, they have no choice but to turn to Iran; consequently, Iran feels they have no choice but to turn to nuclear weapons to defend themselves. As for North Korea?

"I think certainly you have to be concerned about the potential for sales to terrorist groups, I think North Korea would sell to anyone with hard currency," Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton, told reporters in Tokyo Wednesday morning before North Korea's announcement. "It's bad enough that they would sell missile technology or chemical or biological weapons capability, but the nuclear capabilities are obviously the most dangerous of all."

Expect that "concern" to be the only response we get out of this administration.