After the failure of their "Glorious" missile launch that was carried out in honor of the 100th birthday of their founder Kim Il Sung, the North Koreans were widely expected to rush preparations for another test of their nuclear bomb program.

It looks like they won't disappoint us.

MSNBC:

North Korea could carry out an underground test of a nuclear weapon as early as Tuesday night as the North's reclusive leadership dramatically tries to up the stakes with the U.S. and the West, U.S. officials told NBC News.

U.S. officials say North Korea may already have an arsenal between 12 and a "few dozen" far more advanced weapons, many more than generally believed.

U.S. and South Korean intelligence agencies have been monitoring test preparations at P'unggye-yok, the North Korean test site near the Chinese border, for the past several weeks. As new evidence of tunneling emerged, officials began to see Army Day celebrations scheduled for Wednesday (Tuesday night in the U.S.) as a possible date for the test.

It will be the first time the country's 29-year-old leader, Kim Jong Un, will get a chance to address the Korean People's Army as commander.

At the high end of the range, U.S. officials and other researchers said, North Korea may already have up to "a few dozen" nuclear weapons that could be fitted atop its vast fleet of ballistic missiles. Currently, North Korean missiles are limited to an intermediate range, capable of hitting cities in Japan or South Korea but not the United States. What the new test could reveal is an improvement in the type of weapons North Korea has.

The article mentions that the North has "missile deliverable weapons." But given the track record of their missiles, they may want to think twice about putting a nuclear bomb on a rocket that is just as likely to explode a few seconds after lift off as it is in reaching its target.

The young Kim has threatened to turn Seoul into "ashes." Ahmadinejad wants to wipe Israel "off the face of the earth." And yet, critics in this country and elsewhere wonder why Iran and North Korea shouldn't be entitled to their own nuclear weapons. Their logic is thus: The west and Israel have nukes, why not Iran and North Korea?

As soon as we or the Israelis threaten to turn Iran into ashes or wipe North Korea off the face of the earth, you can take our nukes away and give them to the UN.

In the meantime, maybe we shouldn't allow nations that threaten their neighbors with annihilation and are led by people who have little grasp of reality the opportunity to make good on their boasts.