I‘m not privy to administration thinking about North Korea, Iraq or Iran. I don't know how its prime movers and shakers see the three members of the axis of evil individually or set against each another. All I know is what I read in the newspapers-and that's enough to mislead anyone. But I'd be surprised if anything said here had not already crossed the minds of administration principals, more than once. As with the raspberry patch this winter, a lot goes on beneath the soft and quiet snow.

Adam Garfinkle is editor of The National Interest.