Resolved: North Korea poses a more serious threat to US national security than Iran

We negate the Resolution, Resolved: North korea poses a bigger threat to national security than Iran. We would first like to point out a few definitions that should be kept in mind during this round. Nat'l security: is the ongoing fight to protect public safety (amy klobuchar, minnesota senator) therefore all threats presented during this round must have some sort of effect on the public in order to be considered a threat, according to Princeton university, is a warning that something unpleasant is imminent therefore the Burden on the the pro is to prove that North Korea is more likely to cause damage to the US public than Iran and that the extent of that damage is greater than Iran's. Also note that the Con does not have to prove that Iran does not hold a greater threat than that of North Korea. If they are equal, the CON still wins the round. That being said, allow me to move on to my contentions our first contention is that Iran is publicly backing terrorist groups. According to the thinkquest library, Iran sponsors a total of 7 terrorist groups, Lebanese Hizballah; HAMAS; Palestine Islamic Jihad; Palestinian Rejectionist Groups; Mujahedin-e-Khalq; Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security. It seems Iran also backs the Taliban, as "Iran or elements within Iran have provided training assistance and some weapons to the Taliban," said Mr Eikenberry, US ambassador. According to the council on foreign relations, even al-Qaeda has ties to Iran, "as Iran was seeking to replenish al-Qaeda's ranks." The thinkquest library lists only 3 terrorist organizations sponsored by North Korea. Each of which are outdated communist terror groups which pose little threat to the US. Clearly Iran is willing to support destructive organizations, making it a true threat to Nat'l security. Contention 2: strategic geographical location of Iran gives it leverage on our military and economy Subpoint A: Iran's geography allows for more serious detrimental military action Iran has placed medium range missiles in Venezuela, a country which already has anti-american views. According to Die Welt, Venezuela has agreed to allow Iran to establish a military base manned by Iranian missile officers. These missiles, while not nuclear, have the power to cause significant damage to the American public. Subpoint b: Iran's geography allows for serious economic leverage on the US According to the Energy Information Administration, the US imports roughly one eighth of its Crude oil from the Persian Gulf. Any sort of conflict there would result in gas prices skyrocketing. To provide a logical precedent, the conflict in Libya has caused gas prices to rise to an average of $3.57 per gallon. We do not depend as heavily on Libya for oil as we do on Iran, so our relations there are more desperate and crucial. As opposed to North Korea, which is a completely closed society. We do not depend on North Korea for anything, thus they do not have so much leverage on us Our final contention deals with the nuclear threat of both Nations, North Korea and Iran. Iran's nuclear program is currently a work in progress. Top American military officials said in April 2010 that Iran could produce bomb-grade fuel for at least one nuclear weapon within a year, according to the new york times. Once Iran successfully creates it's own nuclear weapon, there is no telling how it will chose to use it. This ambiguity only adds to the threat of Iran's nukes. North Korea on the other hand, has possessed nukes since 2003, according to fas.org. they have not used them for destructive purposes yet, and even if they wanted to, they could not inflict damage upon the US, as its most recent Nuclear test missile had a range incapable of going far enough to reach the United States. The distance between North Korea and the United States is over 10,000km. North Korea's longest range missile, the Taepodong-1 is currently only capable of flying 2,500 km. I thank my opponent for his/her/their time and look forward to their response. I would like to remind my opponent to include any crossfire questions at the end of his/her/their next speech. I will answer them in my rebuttal.