How come I have a hard time believing there will be any real consequences for North Korea when the US government track record shows they will be rewarded for provocations?:

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday warned North Korea that firing a missile for any purpose would be a “provocative act” that would have consequences. North Korea is loading a rocket on a launch pad in anticipation of the launch of a communications satellite between April 4 and 8, U.S. counterproliferation and intelligence officials said. North Korea announced its intention to launch the satellite in February, but regional powers worry the claim is a cover for the launch of a long-range missile capable of reaching Alaska.

Clinton told reporters during a visit to Mexico City that the U.S. believes the North Korean plan to fire a missile for any purpose would violate a U.N. Security Council resolution barring the country from ballistic activity. She linked a missile launch to the future of talks between the U.S., North Korea and four other nations aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

“We have made it very clear that the North Koreans pursue this pathway at a cost and with consequences to the six-party talks, which we would like to see revived,” Clinton said.

“We intend to raise this violation of the Security Council resolution, if it goes forward, in the U.N.,” she said. “This provocative action in violation of the U.N. mandate will not go unnoticed and there will be consequences.”  [Associated Press]

Ironically as One Free Korea points out is that the very sanctions Clinton is claiming the North Koreans will be in violation of that she will use to bring “consequences” were only made possible because former US United Nations ambassador John Bolton is the one that got them approved in the first place.  Clinton readers may remember were one of the many politicians who voted to block Bolton from remaining America’s UN Ambassador, which Bolton eventually had to resign from.  Yes this does show how much irony there is in the world.