So you don't think its a bad thing that rogue militaristic states gain the capability to throw around that kind of destruction? We aren't talking about a democraticaly elected, human-rights friendly, STABLE country here. Besides their testing policies, no one is really bitching about France having "the bomb". Mutually assured destruction is not a deterrent for a regime like North Korea, or Iraq(past), or maybe even Iran(though I think it may be for these guys), like it was for the Soviet Union during the Cold War. If countries like North Korea get ahold of these kinds of weapons, they WILL use them. Barring some sort of apocolyptic event, I don't think the US will EVER actually use their nuclear arsenal. For ####s sake, the media loses their mind if one single regular bomb goes astray, can you imagine the fallout from actually launching a nuke at someone? I don't think even Bush has the balls to push that button. Also, the United States is currently developing a system to shoot ballistic missiles out of the sky, and its not just to protect us. The system will be employable nearly worlwide given the right circumstances. As for being bullies, well, in some ways I think we should be more bullish, some ways less, and in a few others I'll put it like this. You can only stand in your own yard, minding your own business while your neighbor throws rocks at you before you hop the white picket fence and kick his teeth in.