EDMONTON, Canada -- Since no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq, some critics of the Bush administration are suggesting that the use of the military option was premature or even unwarranted unless, of course, the goal all along was to overthrow a dangerous despot -- Saddam Hussein. Certainly, one has to wonder why U.S. President George W. Bush chose to "shock and awe" Iraq, while simply sending verbal warnings to both Iran and North Korea.

Indeed, the argument can be made that if North Korea and Iran are allowed to become nuclear powers, the world will become much more dangerous than it was before the United States launched the attack on Iraq. Selecting Hussein for extermination over a long list of other despots seems quite arbitrary.

Unlike Iraq, North Korea openly admits that it has been enriching uranium to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran has been less candid about its past nuclear activities, but there is speculation that it is, in fact, using the cover of its civilian nuclear power program to develop the capacity to build nuclear weapons. Just imagine the danger that both countries, as nuclear-weapons states, would pose to Asia and the Middle East -- not to speak of to the rest of the world?