It all depends on how you look at it. Kim Jong Il claims it is a great success. Others call it a failure, since the satellite did not reach orbit. And it certainly highlights the fecklessness of Obama’s foreign policy. But was the launch really a failure?

North Korea's rocket may have fallen into the sea, but military experts cautioned Monday against calling it a complete failure, pointing out that it traveled twice as far as any missile the country has launched.

Although the distance was still far short of showing North Korea could reach U.S. territory, it rattled the North's neighbors and countries around the globe, with the U.S. and its allies pushing for quick punishment at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting held hours after the launch.

The launch, which demonstrated progress, is a particularly worrying development for a belligerent country that says it has nuclear weapons and once threatened to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire."

What the NorKs demonstrated was their ability to launch missiles that threaten most of Asia – including American military forces and strategic allies. What’s more, it is precisely the sort of test we would have expected, with precisely the sort of trajectory, if they were doing work on an ICBM rather than trying to launch a satellite. Think about that – and ask yourself if you really feel all that secure with the US merely seeking a UN condemnation of the NorK regime. Did Obama just fail that test that Joe Biden warned us would come early in his administration?