Morning Joe: May 29, 2009

North Korea Still in the News Cycle

Stories we're following today:

N. Korea Fires a Missile as Gates Heads to Region [link]

• Mr. Gates said the Obama administration considered the test aggressive but not a crisis. Nonetheless, he echoed other senior officials by saying that North Korea’s export of its nuclear technology to other countries was a major concern.

Punishing North Korea won't work - Leon Sigal in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists [link]

• The only way to do so is to probe through sustained diplomatic give-and-take.

U.S. Presses China for Tough Response to North Korea - New York Times [link]

• “We now have a new situation that has not appeared before,” said Brent Scowcroft, a national security adviser to President Gerald R. Ford and the first President Bush, who spoke on a panel with Mr. Perry. Under these circumstances, he said, the United States had both more leverage and incentive to enlist the cooperation of China, as North Korea’s most influential neighbor.

The Hoped-For Laser Miracles - New York Times Editorial [link]

• Some critics view NIF as an expensive toy for weapons scientists. But the energy potential is alluring enough that all of us should root for NIF to succeed.

Brzezinksi and Yazdi, Three Decades Later - Newsweek [link]

• Brzezinski and Yazdi spoke to Newsweek's Christopher Dickey via conference call earlier this month to address the current state of Iranian-American relations.

Pentagon Plans New Arm to Wage Wars in Cyberspace - New York Times [link]

• The Pentagon plans to create a new military command for cyberspace, administration officials said Thursday, stepping up preparations by the armed forces to conduct both offensive and defensive computer warfare.

A View from the Dark Side

Is John Bolton Right About North Korea? - Huffington Post (???)[link]

• We should expel North Korea from the United Nations, since they have no intention of abiding by its rules and resolutions.

The Test Ban Treaty Would Help North Korea - Paula Desutter in the Wall Street Journal [link]

• Verification has two purposes: detection and deterrence. If you can't detect, you can't deter. But even if you can detect, you may not be able to deter.

A View from the Lighter Side

N. Korea Detonates 40 Years Of GDP - The Onion from Oct. 18, 2006 [link]

• "The detonation most likely sent the burning, liquified remains of North Korea's economy deep into the Earth's core."