"North Korea says it has a nuclear weapons program, though in 1994 they agreed NOT to pursue one - we just found this out." We knew Russia was violating nuclear treaties during the Cold War. Why do you assume that we were completely in the dark on North Korea?
"W says we need to take down Hussein because of the threat he poses with his nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs..."
I can't say for certain whether or not our war with Iraq will be about oil, but I do know that it isn't because Hussein poses a real threat. I mean, how can Iraq threaten us with something it doesn't have?
"This MUST mean that N. Korea poses a greater threat than Iraq (first point of faulty logic)."
Think about it--North Korea has nukes that can take out entire cities. Iraq doesn't. Which nation poses the biggest threat, the one with nuclear capabilites or the one without? It's not rocket science....well, okay, maybe it is rocket science when we're talking nuclear missiles.
I don't know how to respond to logic like that, but I will try. I agree, as stated earlier, that we knew some time ago that the DPRK was violating their agreement with us. Bush inherited a flawed policy and must now try to set it straight.
The danger Saddam poses to the US has more to do with the use of surrogates (terrorists like AQ) to wage war with WMD against the US making it very difficult for us to retaliate against him. We still don't know where the anthrax attacks came from. The AQ has the infrastructure and global reach to carry out these attacks against us.
The DPRK poses a direct threat as well, but we have less options given the size and capabilities of its military, including possibly nuclear weapons. We must try to stop the transfer of weapons technology to regimes such as Iraq and Iran--not to mention terrorist groups. There are limits to our power and what we can do. We recognized that with the Soviet Union and China -- hence our containment policy. Eliminating Saddam sends a message of our resolve. The DPRK has its vulnerabillities--particularly a terrible economy and widespread starvation. We must use every arrow in our quiver to take them down.