Iran and North Korea sign technological cooperation agreement, deepening ties - The Washington Post

Dammit, Pyongyang and teheran, why you have to make me look stupid?! For years I have been mocking Dubya Bush for his "Axis of Evil" comments tying North Korea, Iran, and Iraq together into some sort of alliance.

Yes, it was an utterly ridiculous claim, given the intense enmity Iraq and Iran felt toward each other, but to those who were paying just a little attention, the occasional ties between North Korea and Iran made the whole idea seem plausible -- and frightening enough to go to war.

And here we are yet again, with North Korean leadership (but not Kim Jong-un himself) going to Iran to sign a cooperation deal. Of course, in some ways the "Axis of Evil" comments were self-fulfilling prophecy, pushing the remaining marginalized regimes toward each other since each of them has so few potential partners, but it still adds up to critics of Bush making us look silly.

Given Pyongyang's charm offensive lately, though, one has to wonder what they're thinking with all this. Maybe it's to remind us that, yeah, if we don't cooperate with North Korea, then th can still go and poke us in the eye and make life difficult. Mission accomplished.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/iran-and-north-korea-sign-technological-cooperation-agreement-deepening-ties/2012/09/02/f4921588-f4b7-11e1-b74c-84ed55e0300b_story.html


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