If Americans thought it was difficult to fight terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, then we ought to remember what transpired when our troops were in the midst of the Korean War in the ‘50s. My hunch is that the current administration hasn’t done a history check or perhaps doesn’t care. Rather than being concerned about a possible World War III, the Obama administration is putting all their energy on bailouts and a greener, cleaner economy. What good, though, will printing billions of dollars and handing it out to big business do when our country is being overrun by another country’s military? My other major concern is the probability of China joining sides with the Koreans.

While many in the U.S. are concerned about bringing the troops home and ending the war on terrorism, I’ve begun paying much more attention to the happenings in North Korea. I read a story online at CNN.com yesterday that sounded like a double-dare from North Korea’s leader Pyongyang. In fact, North Korea said yesterday that any sanctions or pressure applied against it following its rocket launch earlier this month will be considered a “declaration of war.” There’s not much to read between the lines in a statement like that, and in fact, I see it as an aggressive maneuver, one that could lead us into another war.

According to CNN, in an announcement on state-run television, the country said it was ready to step up efforts to develop nuclear weapons and poised for a military response to any moves against it. This dialogue came on the heels of the United Nations condemning North Korea – which refers to itself as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK – for launching a rocket.

An uncanny aspect of the rocket launch is argument from the U.S. and the United Nations that the launch was unsuccessful, while the Koreans argue the contrary. To me it doesn’t matter if the rocket reached space to act as a communication satellite or not, but instead the bigger issue is the actions and threats by the North Koreans.

As importantly, the act of launching the missile is in direct violation of a 2006 Security Council resolution that demanded that North Korea not launch any ballistic missiles. Yet another somber look at how North Korea perceives itself compared to the rest of the world – untouchable.

“The Korean People’s Army will consider sanctions to be applied against the DPRK under various names over its satellite launch or any pressure to be put upon it through ‘total participation’ in the PSI (Proliferation Security Initiative) as a declaration of undisguised confrontation and a declaration of a war against the DPRK,” the announcement on state TV said, according to the CNN report.

“Now that the group officially declared confrontation and war against the DPRK, its revolutionary armed forces will opt for increasing the nation’s defense capability including nuclear deterrent in every way, without being bound to the agreement adopted at the six-party talks,” it continued, apparently referring to the Security Council.

CNN went on to quote from the announcement, “When a nuclear war will break out due to the war chariot of the ‘South Korea-U.S. military alliance’ is a matter of time,” it said. “The U.S. and South Korean warmongers would be well advised to stop acting rashly, properly understanding who their rival is.”

It’s high time that the United States stops trying to bail out businesses, and begin figuring out how it is going to deal with North Korea. We weren’t very successful last time we were faced with this opposition and unless something changes it makes me very nervous considering if the next outcome will be any different than the last.