I guess this “bearing witness” thing is becoming larger U.S. policy:

The United States will not use force to inspect a North Korean ship suspected of carrying banned goods, an American official was quoted as saying Friday.

An American destroyer has been shadowing the North Korean freighter sailing off China’s coast, possibly on its way to Myanmar.

Well, force certainly seems out of the question when we’re still too afraid to ask nicely:

The U.S. and its allies have made no decision on whether to request inspection of the ship, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said Wednesday in Washington, but North Korea has said it would consider any interception an act of war.

Funny, I seem to remember Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice saying something earlier this month about “a very robust, tough regime, with teeth that will bite in North Korea.” Maybe she should forget about the teeth for now, and just work on the guts. Or we can continue to let nuclear madmen define “acts of war” for us until we apologize for our very existence.