One can perhaps forgive President Clinton his waverings and wobblings regarding North Korea's nuclear bomb, his abjectly retracted pledge that "North Korea cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear bomb," his year of negotiations that yielded nothing but American concessions and North Korean nuclear advances.
One can forgive Clinton this irresolution because it arises out of an understandable fear -- the fear of war. War is what North Korea promises if we do anything serious to stop its nuclear program. And war is a serious thing. One might argue that the world's only superpower ought not be intimidated by the threats...