Its place as one of the three states in Mr Bush�s �axis of evil� stems from its extreme political philosophy of communism and cult of the personality of Kim Jong-il, its potential nuclear ambitions and its export of rocket technology to Iraq, Iran and Syria.
North Korea still answers to Churchill�s 1939 description of the Soviet Union as �a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma�. The American hope is that North Korea has learned the lessons from the use of American air power in the Gulf War and in Afghanistan.
