Should the United States regard North Korea the same as Iraq in terms of possession of weapons of mass destruction?
North Texas Daily, 2/19/2003

NOTE: I wrote my position in 15 minutes flat -- my personal record. The "Yes" propoent is herself a liberal who does not agree with invading North Korea but pretended to be so for the sake of argument. Thus, I was left with the "No" position and improvised.

Yes!
Shannon Wherry

Over the past week it has become evident that North Korea has the capability of reaching the United States' West Coast with nuclear arms.

Perhaps now the threats to which they have alluded have finally reached a plateau.

We must be proactive if we intend to remain a superpower. We cannot afford to passively sit by as nations breeding hate also breed weapons.

Bush is resolved to work on a diplomatic resolution with North Korean leaders on the contention that they must halt any development of nuclear weapons. While attempting to resolve the issue peaceably, the United States hasn't ruled out any options, including the use of military force.

The North Korean issue arises at a pivotal time for the United States. While attempting to build support for action against Iraq, the nation's government has now found itself face-to-face with another major threat as dubious as Iraq.

The ascension of these issues have many speculating about the implications of North Korea's timing. It has surfaced major nuclear threats amidst U.S. efforts to disarm Iraq.

North Korea seized this opportunity to negotiate with the United States on long-contended issues. North Korea apparently attempts to disperse U.S. efforts and perhaps forces as well.

I say if North Korea demands our attention, we should give it to them.

The prospect of war is never a pleasant one, but sometimes it is necessary to maintain freedom and peace.

Hitting the hard issues head-on can help to avoid even greater issues in years to come.

No!
Andy Hogue, Copy Editor

Iraq is somewhat wealthy with a psuedo-Islamic military dictator hording the people's resources.

North Korea, on the other hand, is a communist dictatorship in utter poverty attempting to redistribute what little wealth it has.

In the case with Saddam Hussein, we have dealt with his crap for more than a decade, quietly tolerating his treaty violations in the afterglow of a swift liberation of Kuwait.

We do know that North Korea is supplying the Middle East with SCUD missile equipment. North Korea is indeed part of the "Axis of Evil."

But one must consider why, after all these years and the Persian Gulf War, is North Korea coming out of its shell?

Some have speculated that North Korea is desperate and relying on its relatively advanced weapons-production facilities to stimulate the economy, whereas previously the nation preferred isolation.

This theory states that North Korea is trying to gain the attention of the international community and diplomatically squeeze out foreign aid money from richer nation, like a child would intentionally break the rules to get attention from negligent parents. In either situation, the North Koreans are starving, trapped within the dismissal of Marxist economics.

Reagan's policy of strong-fisted diplomacy lead to the fall of the Iron Curtain in the former Soviet Union when its people were at the point of desperation, the United States didn't need to storm the Kremlin to make a fairweather friend of Russia.

North Korea is, today, at a similar turning point. Kim Jong-il: Tear down that wall!