Unfortunatly,

you are correct that Bad Korea can sell whatever they want (up to and including nuclear bombs) and Yemen can buy whatever they want.

The US held up this principle of free trade and weapons/technology proliferation when they let the ship go.

If the Scuds were headed to Iraq, it would have been a different story: Iraq agreed under international law to give up the right to long and intermediate range weapons systems, So the US would have been completely justified in declaring a Material breach of the UN resolutions, destroying the scuds, scuttling the Bad Korean vessle, and almost certainly executing a full scale eviction campaign against Sadam.

Personally, I think the Yemini's gave Iraq the cover they needed to avoid just such a blatent material breach of the UN Resolutions: And thus war has been averted (for today).

If that is a correct assessment, then Sadam will be upset that he paid for Scuds that he will not now recieve. But he should still be kissing the feet of the Yemini's as they have saved his butt for another day.

Scott