Your claim (both parts) can be disputed, however that is a moot point. The only country to have used nuclear weapons against a civilian population was not run by a borderline psychotic at the time. Funnily enough, Saddam Hussein did not use chemical or biological weapons in the last Gulf War, which is remarkable considering he was losing the war.
Nah, you know he's a loon but you just don't want to admit it. It might weaken your argument.
Saddam was told in the last war what would happen to him if he did use WMD on us. Then, he figured out that we weren't marching on Baghdad after all, so he put his goodies away for a rainy day.
As to Harry Truman; if I were in his position and had to forestall a landing in Japan, knowing how hard the Japanese fought at Saipan, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima, I would have used the bomb, too. Stating that Harry Truman used WMD on a civilian population does nothing to advance your central proposition that Saddam can be left alone with his toys. It's just an argumentative stunt.
The answer to this riddle is simple: Saddam Hussein may be crazy, but he is not suicidal. He knows exactly that using WMDs will only get him killed. That is why Hussein can easily be contained. And that is why he is to a certain degree cooperating with the UN inspectors.
Credulity will get you killed. If he were cooperating at all, he would have handed over the bad stuff. He's not, because the survival of the regime depends on holding on to those weapons.
Asserting that Hussein can be contained is laughable. Your causation is as follows.
MAJOR ASSUMPTION: Hussein is only interested in personal survival.
MAJOR ASSUMPTION: Hussein does not want to use WMD for fear of retaliation.
CONCLUSION: Hussein can be contained.
The fly in that ointment is that Hussein has, throughout the nineties, continued stockpiling VX, other nerve agents, and bioweapons as if they were going out of style. He also continues to research nuclear weapons.
Once he achieves nuclear weapons deployment, containment fails. Saddam can then hand a bomb over to a cutout, such as Al Qaeda, and sit back and watch the fun. You want to take those kind of risks with one of our cities? Thanks, but no thanks.
Nuclear weapons don't respect borders. Neither do terrorists.
On the other hand, North Korea is trying very hard to appear as insane as possible. It has even threatened preemptive strikes against South Korea. The reaction of the US administration is telling -- obviously North Korea can be dealt with diplomatically, very much unlike Iraq.
North Korea is uniquely dependent on China. That's one lever right there.
For the time being, it can be dealt with diplomatically. We do so because we have chosen, and properly so, to remain concentrated on the task at hand.
Thankfully, the Administration understands the Big Talk out of Pyongyang for what it is: a bluff by a group of thugs holding a very bad poker hand.
No more money for Little Kim.
Be Seeing You,
Chris