Lobbing a nightmare at China  What if Japan was involved in the
nuclear weaponry bluff?  January 06, 2003|By Charles
Krauthammer, Washington Post Writers Group. Charles Krauthammer
is a syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C.  WASHINGTON
— When the secretary of state goes on five Sunday morning TV
talk shows to deny that something is a crisis, it is a crisis.
The administration has been downplaying the gravity of North
Korea's nuclear breakout, and for good reason. For now, there is
little the administration can do. No point, therefore, in
advertising our helplessness.  But there is no overestimating
the seriousness of the problem. If we did not have so many of
our military assets tied up in the Persian Gulf, we would today
have carriers off the coast of Korea and be mobilizing
reinforcements for our garrison there.  North Korea is about to
go from a rogue state that may have one or two nuclear bombs
hidden somewhere, to one that is in the nuclear manufacturing
business. And North Korea sells everythin