Breaking News: Communists Lie

If you ask me, he looks perfectly healthy.

But stunning, isn't it, that Communists would lie to us?

The 66-year-old man in the photos appeared the picture of health, full of vigor despite reports he underwent brain surgery less than two months ago.

He was surrounded by serious, crisply uniformed soldiers and in the background there was plenty of verdant greenery, more reminiscent of summer than mid-autumn in a temperate clime.

To seasoned North Korea watchers, the country's weekend release of photos of leader Kim Jong Il for the first time since the middle of August are raising a host of questions about his health — as well as the motive and timing behind their publication.

The images came less than 24 hours before the United States on Saturday removed North Korea from Washington's terrorism blacklist, dousing rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear development.

Excuse me for being naive, but how is it we're to believe them when they say they'll disarm?

They were the first photos of the "Dear Leader," as he is known in North Korea, available since Aug. 14.

That is the date around which Kim — believed to have long had diabetes and heart disease — is thought to have suffered a stroke and then underwent brain surgery, according to South Korean and U.S. officials. North Korea has denied Kim is ill.