The Beeb analyses why the Bushies and company finally negotiated a fairly soft deal with North Korea over that country's nuclear program.

An excerpt:

Prominent members of US President George W Bush's administration make no secret of their contempt for a previous nuclear deal signed by the Clinton administration with North Korea in 1994.

Now, after years of confrontation, they have signed up to something that looks suspiciously similar - a nuclear freeze in return for economic and diplomatic incentives.

The difference is that North Korea now claims to be a nuclear power, having used the period of hostility to test a nuclear device and build a small arsenal of weapons.

The US negotiator, Christopher Hill, says the new agreement is just a first step.

Strategic decision

The aim is still the full dismantlement of all North Korea's nuclear capabilities, although he concedes there is still a long way to go.

North Korea will see the deal as a victory, our correspondent says

But analysts say US policy looks increasingly like a containment exercise - an attempt to limit the damage and restrict the expansion of the North's existing capabilities.

"After years of mistakes the United States has decided to stop digging a hole for itself," says Peter Beck, North-East Asia Director of the International Crisis group.

"The administration has made a strategic decision to go after Iran and to go soft on North Korea," he said.