North Korea Removed From State Dep't Terrorism List

Effective immediately, North Korea has been removed from the U.S. State Department's list of nations that sponsor terrorism. In exchange for this removal, North Korea agrees to allow full inspections of their nuclear facilities including Yongbyon. The North Koreans had been reactivating Yongbyon when it accused the U.S. of reneging on a promise to remove it from the terrorism list after an agreement by the six nations involved was reached in June. The U.S. had contended the North Koreans had not taken steps to allow inspectors to verify their claims of disarmament. Now the U.S. has dropped these demands despite the fact we don't know if Kim Jong-Il is still alive.

In twenty years, we have gone from "trust but verify" to "trust at face value."

North Korea is about as likely to allow full inspections of nuclear facilities as its ally Robert Mugabe is to share power in Zimbabwe.