BY PATRICIA WILSON
Reuters
CRAWFORD, Texas - Confronted with a nuclear challenge from North Korea and the possibility of war with Iraq, President Bush resolved on Tuesday to try to find peaceful solutions to both in 2003.
His New Year's eve vow came even as the United States built up its military presence in the Gulf region and the communist regime in Pyongyang added a fresh twist to the Asian nuclear crisis by hinting it might pull out of a global non-proliferation treaty because of Washington's threats.
"We hope to resolve all the situations in which we find ourselves in a peaceful way," Bush told reporters at a coffee shop in the tiny town of Crawford near his family ranch. "And so that's my commitment, to try to do so peacefully."