Posted on 04/06/2013 11:11:10 PM PDT by Jyotishi
Washington - The Pentagon has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test due to take place in California next week amid soaring nuclear tensions with North Korea, an official has said.
The defense official told AFP that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel rescheduled the Minuteman 3 test at Vandenberg Air Force Base for some time next month due to concerns the launch "might be misconstrued by some as suggesting that we were intending to exacerbate the current crisis with North Korea."
"We wanted to avoid that misperception or manipulation," the US official added.
"We are committed to testing our ICBMs to ensure a safe, secure, effective nuclear arsenal."
North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions and South Korea-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.
The Pentagon's announcement followed reports that the North had loaded two intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast.
They were reported to be untested Musudan missiles which are believed to have a range of around 3,000 kilometers that could theoretically be pushed to 2,485 miles with a light payload.
That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases located on the Pacific island of Guam.
The North has no proven inter-continental ballistic missile capability that would enable it to strike more distant US targets, and many experts say it is unlikely it can even mount a nuclear warhead on a mid-range missile.
Nevertheless, the international community is becoming increasingly skittish that, with tensions showing no sign of de-escalating, there is a real risk of the situation spiraling out of control.
The latest crisis erupted when North Korea fired a long-range rocket in December that could theoretically reach the continental United States, but instead splashed down near the Philippines.
The North later carried out its third nuclear test in February, defying even its main ally China.
The UN Security Council on March 7 unanimously approved new sanctions that include greater scrutiny of shady financial dealings by the impoverished regime.
I think we just surrendered to the norks.
As if there was any chance that Obama wouldn’t blink.
Nah..we have military presence all over the area. We don’t need to do anything else.
Let China ratchet their friend down. From what I read, even they aren’t happy.
The wussification of the US is complete.
It must be the sequester! Or the Russia demand we don’t test our missles. Or maybe Barry has a white streak down his back?
No, that’s propaganda out of Red China. They’re very pleased with their puppet state’s performance, judging by Obama’s reaction.
yeah..0’Buttplug blinked.
Guess we are gonna find out what will happen when Iran goes Nuclear. North Korea is the test case.
It’s all politics.
No, there is a huge difference between Iran and the Norks. The Norks use their weaponry capabilities to blackmail the world into feeding the dictator’s regime. The IRanians have vowed to wipe Israel out of existence when they become nuclear weaponry capable. The Iranians are demonically possessed murdering islamo slime; the Norks are just being bullies with firecrackers.
Right. But what happens after they nuke Israel ?
> I think we just surrendered to the norks.
Yes that’s exactly what this looks like. Hussein, you lose!
That could well be. You may know more than I do. But as much as I don’t like Obama, in this case I don’t think not having war games in the region is a bad thing.
Kim Child Young is a kook with nuclear weapons. This should have been addressed when his dad was alive. Or before. Clinton was very sympathtic to their plight.
The semicolon sure changes the meaning of the title.
For my part, the whole issue ought to have been solved during the early days of Kim Il-sung. But then Truman fired MacArthur for defending us against Red China, and things went downhill from there . . .
On another note, think of how stupid Arabs/mooselimbs are. They demand someone nuke Israel, but to obliterate Israel will incinerate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and Arab near neighbors, and radiate the region into a zone of death. I used to think there were a few Saudi Sheiks who understood the implications, but their behaviors for the last two deacdes evidence a level of evil blind hatred which tells me they’re just as irrational as the average jihadislamoslime.
Israel has over 800 nuclear weapons, including some thermonuclear weapons (aka “H-Bombs”), some installed on submarines. The Middle East will cease to exist if Israel is attacked.
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