MySA.com: Austin Bay: "North Korea calls its latest negotiating gambit 'the order of simultaneous action.' Pyongyang will 'renounce nuclear intentions' if Washington resumes food aid. The United States must also provide 'written security assurances.' This is still 'pay us, then we behave.'

"The schtick is no longer working quite as slick as it once did. Saddam's collapse is one reason - post 9-11 America is in the regime change business. That fact certainly spurred Libya's nuclear fold. Stories circulate that Kim believes missile-armed American Predator unmanned aerial vehicles are stalking him. If Kim casts a wary eye to the sky, that may promote flexibility, as the diplomats say."

Nuclear Blackmail, as they used to call it. The old gangsters called it the "Protection Racket." If you pay us, we will protect your business. If you don't pay us, bad things will happen to you. It took courage to defeat the gangsters, but until people stood up to them, the racket simply expanded.