Axis of Niceness

North Korea and Iran, both card-carrying members of President Bush's "axis of evil," are pursuing nukes. So why is President Obama cutting American missile defense (besides the fact that during the current domestic spending orgy he has to cut somewhere)?

His current course of action certainly seems to undercut Obama's reputation as the world's smartest man. Certainly he can't be comfortable with the idea of these crazy regimes having the ability to blackmail us or blow up our cities, so there must be something more to his policy than cut defense and hope for the best. Surely he cannot believe he can charm them. Perhaps he is planning an invasion or a coup?

Why do I have the sinking feeling Obama believes that people are inherently good (except Republicans who disagree with him on health care) and can be persuaded to do the nice thing? The worldview lesson he will soon learn could be very costly for all of us.