North Korea has agreed to all U.S. nuclear inspection demands and the Bush administration responded Saturday by removing the communist country from a terrorism blacklist. The breakthrough is intended to salvage a faltering disarmament accord before President Bush leaves office in January.

This past week, amongst the chaos of the bailout and financial crisis, the Senate approved the pending nuclear deal between the United States and India, ending the boycott of India by nuclear nations in response to its refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. To critics, this agreement is a double-standard, favoring India at the expense of Pakistan, Iran and North Korea. For supporters it is simply recognizing the de-facto situation and rewarding India's cooperation by incorporating it into the international nuclear community.

President Bush said Wednesday that North Korea has much to do before the U.S. can remove it from the terror blacklist, but expressed hope that its pariah status as a member of the "axis of evil" could some day be a thing of the past.