Gadhafi’s Death Increases Threat of War

COMMENTARY | In the past decade there have been five countries posing major threats to the United States and the world - Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, North Korea and Iran. With the deaths of three key figures, Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden and Moammar Gadhafi, the only two countries left on the list are North Korea and Iran. Both countries have nuclear capabilities. What happens when all other threats are eliminated? Will Iran and North Korea combine forces increasing the threat of war?

The United States is a major player in eliminating world threats. Saddam Hussein was captured by United States military during the Bush administration. He was later tried, convicted and hung in Iraq. Osama Bin Laden was killed by C.I.A. operatives after being cornered during a late night raid. Now, less than three months after President Obama spoke from his vacation spot at Martha's Vineyard about the end of the Gadhafi regime, the leader is dead.

Deaths narrow the focus on North Korea and Iran. For as long as I can remember, there have been threats to world peace spread across the globe. Now, with the elimination of three major threats, the focus of the United States gun sight is narrowed to North Korea and Iran. While Libyans are rejoicing over the reports of Gadhafi's death, the ripple effect is reaching countries with the power to end the world as we know it.

United States already pushing North Korea to give up nuclear weapons. The U.S. Envoy on North Korea has recently received new orders. The new orders are to attempt to convince North Korea to turn over nuclear weapons in exchange for aid. North Korean leaders can take the deaths of other United States threats in one of two ways. Either the country will turn over the weapons and take aid from the United States or they will disappear into nuclear bunkers and align with Iran to start a war.

What will it take to start a war? It will take more than a scared North Korean leader to start another world war. In the past, Kim Jong Il has posed an alliance of sorts with Iran for the purpose of selling nuclear weapons. China, the largest country between the two nuclear powers, holds a large portion of United States debt. If the United States cannot repay debt to China and North Korea and Iran feel threatened by the swift elimination of other world leaders, we could be facing another war.