Iraq and North Korea\'s Threats to America.

¶ … Iraq and North Korea's threats to America. Is Iraq a greater threat or is North Korea? It is explained that Iraq has to be greater threat to America's interests as the latter wishes to protect the integrity of North Korea's neighbors. Iraq's threat to America is also seen as more dangerous than that of North Korea because of Hussein's global reputation.

Threat to America: Iraq or North Korea?

Using force against North Korea seems inappropriate because the Communist nation looks less vulnerable to attack than Iraq, and thus, less of a threat to America than Iraq. There are three reasons for opposing an attack on North Korea and these reasons have to do with the protection and honor of the neighbors of North Korea. War also appears as a less compelling option in dealing with North Korea because its nuclear weapons threaten American interests less than Iraqi nuclear arms would. A nuclear-armed Saddam Hussein would be more dangerous to the United States than a nuclear-armed Kim Jong-il. Besides, the protection of the interests of Iraq's neighbors stays as less of an interest to America, making it almost irrelevant for America to oppose war on Iraq based on the interests of the neighbors of Iraq.

A war to destroy the North Korean nuclear program does not seem feasible for three reasons. First, the Pyongyang regime may already have such weapons, which it could hurl at South Korea in response to an attack. Second, even without nuclear arms, North Korea has enough firepower to inflict severe damage on South Korea, especially the capital, Seoul -- even though a war would surely end with the demise of the Communist government. One reason countries seek nuclear weapons has to be to deter attacks by their neighbors. North Korea can already do this without nuclear arms. Third, North Korea's neighbors, whose views the United States must respect, strongly oppose war. South Korea naturally wishes to avoid the damage it would suffer in a war and, in addition, feels leery about the costs of reconstructing and rehabilitating North Korea, which the outcome of a second Korean War would surely force it to assume. Further, China and Japan are not eager to see the Korean peninsula reunified, another likely consequence of war there. Saddam Hussein, by contrast, lacks both nuclear weapons and the non-nuclear capacity to do grievous damage to other countries. Also, none of his neighbors strenuously objects to a military confrontation with him and, even if they did, their objections would not weigh heavily with the United States. Thus, the cost of war with Iraq would likely be considerably lower than the price of war in Korea.

More importantly, a nuclear-armed North Korea, although hardly desirable, would pose a less grave threat to American interests than would Hussein in possession of the bomb. For even a nuclear-armed North Korea could not intimidate, let alone conquer, its neighbors. China, Japan and South Korea are all prosperous, powerful countries with strong governments and formidable armed forces.

Japan and South Korea, although not nuclear-weapon states themselves, have solid alliances of long standing with the nuclear-armed United States; in contrast, Hussein's neighbors, within whose borders much of the oil remains located on which the global economy depends, are neither politically legitimate nor militarily powerful. They are not better able to defend themselves now than they were in 1991, when, after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the United States led an international coalition that came to their rescue. A nuclear-armed Hussein could intimidate or even occupy his neighbors, dominate the region, and hold the world hostage by the influence he would thereby exercise over its supply of oil. If he did possess nuclear weapons, the world would likely not be as quick or forceful in opposing him as it was in the early 1990s. Of course, the acquisition of nuclear weapons by the Communist government of North Korea would adversely affect American interests in East Asia and globally. But the acquisition of nuclear weapons by an Iraqi regime headed by Hussein would, from the standpoint of American interests, be worse.