If we wanted Saddam's oil we could just buy it from him, we have no need to take it. NK is a threat, as was the old Soviet Union - in some cases diplomacy works, in others it does not. If NK invaded SK tomorrow what do you think we would do? We would do what we did with Iraq, attack. NK can saber rattle all day long at us, Saddam has already acted and shown his willingness to continue to do so.
Lots of countries are threats to us, and each one must be handled differently for various reasons. We did not launch a military strike on the USSR, we knew that they did not want to be destroyed any more then we did - neither country was willing to pay the price. It is not apparent that such a deterrent works with Saddam. NK knows if they attack they will be decimated, and so far they don't appear to want to push us either.
Saddam does not want a conventional war, he wants a terrorist war, a different situation which, right now, calls for a different response.
Why argue with a man who says that since we use containment against NK we must use containment against Iraq? That is about the most sophmoric argument I've heard from anyone here...The word simpleton comes to mind.