Sticks and Stones (and Plutonium)

Nobody quite knows if North Korea is gearing up to test nuclear weapons, but there's no doubting its arsenal of insults for its nemesis, the United States. Pyongyang blasted George W. Bush in a newspaper editorial last week, calling the U.S. President "a first-class war maniac." A top Chinese Foreign Ministry official said the diplomatic taunts, particularly Bush's April comment calling North Korea's Kim Jong Il a "tyrant," had "destroyed the atmosphere" for productive negotiations. But this war of words has been escalating for years:

2001: Bush says Kim has failed to keep a promise to freeze...

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