Under American law and custom, such belligerent declarations can be a justification for a first strike. If nuclear weapons could take out their underground artillery positions and destroy their positions along the DMZ it might be worthwhile. The start of Summer means the wind blows North, which is where fallout would go.

I doubt that N. Korea can produce an inertial guidance system that could guide a rocket to Hawaii or Guam. But it would be easy for them to use a commercially available GPS system to accomplish the same thing. A basic part of our strategic defense should be to shut off the GPS satellites in that part of the world when it is detected that N. Korea has launched missiles. I don't know if that is the plan or how to reach the right person who would make that decision. Hopefully someone who reads this can make the suggestion.

We should regard Islamism as a worse threat than Communism, as a subversive conspiracy. There are many Muslims we would regard as legitimate religionists, but we should be very careful and suspicious. I think that the Night Watch comment from earlier is correct in that people in the Middle East become convinced that the government was behind the offensive film when government officials apologize for it. It is such a big mistake.

Everyone in a responsible position in government or the military should read Night Watch bulletins.

The rumor mill (the wife of a retired general) tells me that Ambassador Stevens turned down a recommendation for beefed up security. I think the security of diplomatic missions should not be in the hands of the ambassadors. Congress could fix this with regulations. We should have learned from Iran. Mobs should never be allowed to breach the walls of diplomatic missions. Some ideas: a permanent minefield inside the wall that can be switched on or off electrically. A ditch of burning oil that runs along the top of the wall. Remote controlled fully automatic shotguns. Sleeping gas to put large crowds to sleep. Anyone caught entering US territory illegally (the compound) should be deported to Mexico.

We had the right idea at first. We supported the Northern Alliance and they did most of the work. The ANA will never be reliable. You cannot make a multicultural country out of Afghanistan. The ethnic militias are the only forces that can be relied on to be loyal to whatever the leadership directs. They are like our National Guard or most of our soldiers in the Civil War where the men of each unit came from the same locality and their families all knew each other. Each man knew he and his family could never live it down if he were cowardly or disloyal. We should forget about Karzai and give all support and power to local leaders. Led the local leaders create the level of government over them.

After this becomes the law of the land, the next logical step is to permit gun ownership only for registered Democrats.

Re: Persian Gulf naval incident: I hope it is SOP that when the guns are readied to fire, that someone is filming and recording the whole thing, including loudspeaker and radio traffic.. This could be automated cheaply, but defense contractors would surely charge a fortune. For warnig purposes, they could use lasers in the eyes of the approaching boat operators (about $30 from radio Shack) If this is ignored, stronger lasers could blind them. It is more humane than shelling them as a next step. Come to think of it, it would not be a bad idea to have a "black box" that keeps a record of the last few hours of all operational and situational data.

How about this: offer an independednt state to the Pashtuns in Afghanistan. Then watch Pakistan go on the defensive as Pashtuns try to take territory from Pakistan.

To be a postal supervisor or manager or postmaster, you must first have been a unionized mail carrier or sorter. They never hire from outside. This is why management is inept. Spellcheck was such a godsend for postal documents.