The U.S. and other countries, most notably Korea's close neighbor Japan, are deeply worried by the North's long-range ballistic-missile program, which Pyongyang has put on hold but not abandoned.

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Even if the next president finally readies the country for a long-range, comprehensive program, it will take another decade to implement.

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And three to six months of assistance to unemployed home-owners is not a program with long-range chances of success, given the length of time that workers are remaining unemployed, unable to find new jobs after being unemployed for a year or two.

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Bush administration officials -- Powell among them -- argued that Iraq had harbored stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, a hidden nuclear weapons program and long-range missiles in violation of the cease-fire that ended the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

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The United States argued Hussein's regime had been harboring forbidden stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, long-range missiles and a nuclear weapons program.

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The United States and Britain accused Iraq of failing to comply with U.N. resolutions demanding it give up chemical and biological weapons, long-range missiles and any nuclear weapons program.

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