Aren't Many So-Called "Republics" Really Monarchies?

Yes, of course it is. I have called the North Korean Kim family, kings for many years now. No one is really fooled by Kim claiming to be a true communist state. Cuba is going down the same route, Castro has handed over power to his brother Raoul. China loses a lot of credibility by backing Kim. Hundreds of thousands of people die of starvation, every year in the North Korean Kingdom but, it still has the full backing of China. Instead of america invading Iraq on the transparent pretence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) they should have gone after North Korea, which has admitted to having and is known to have WMD. The reason america doesn't go in there is due to the fact that there are no natural resources. The only oil to be found there, is what is imported from China.