Posted on 04/28/2005 5:52:18 PM PDT by Asphalt
North Korea has the capability of mounting a nuclear warhead on its missiles that could hit the United States, a senior US defense official said.
Vice Admiral Lowell Jacoby, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, gave the assessment during a Congressional hearing.
Asked by Senator Hillary Clinton whether North Korea had the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear device, Jacoby said: "The assessment is that they have the capability to do that, yes, ma'am."
He said that North Korea also had the ability to deploy a two-stage intercontinental missile that could successfully hit US territory.
"Assessed to be within their capacity, yes," Jacoby told Clinton during the hearing on the defense intelligence budget of the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
North Korea said this month it had shut down its nuclear power plant at Yongbyon and was preparing to reprocess the plant's spent fuel, a move that could result in the production of enough plutonium to build up to six more nuclear bombs.
Reports quoting a US official said last week that the United States believed North Korea was planning to test a nuclear weapon and has asked China to intervene.
"Russia and China have no desire to have fallout raining down on them"
Actually I think the wind would blow to the east & southeast.
,,, I was coming more from the angle of territory. Their delivery system is less than optimal, to be charitable to them. I was more beaming in on the vagueness of the article in regard to what's defined as US territory.
"Launching a nuke at us would certainly solve their famine and hunger problems."
priceless!
Understood that . I was coming more from the angle of ineptness . Damn thing could skyrocket up and zoom right down on their blood commie heads . That would be a laugh and a half !
Oh yeah! China could afford to lose a couple hundred million subjects. We can't.
Only the one.
,,, it would only take some madman from the Ukraine or somewhere to fence a [French made, of course] guidance system to them and organise the use of a satellite at some stage.
,,, hitting Japan would be logical and score the same points for them, I'm sure. The North and the South have old scores to settle with Japan.
Nuke going off in a shipping container in Long Beach means we can't figure out who put it there.
" hitting Japan would be logical and score the same points for them, I'm sure. The North and the South have old scores to settle with Japan."
Agreed ...unfortunately for me though I LIVE in Japan !
,,, for a worthwhile sized warhead to make a real difference I thought it had to be detonated over a city - as in before it hit the ground. I don't know if that could all be staged in a 20' or 40' container... I'm deficient in knowledge at this point.
,,, hopefully the Chinese will do something intelligent with Pyongyang's liability celebrity before it gets to that.
,,, what would a North Korean thread be without this obligatory picture being tacked up?
A blast over a city would cause more widespread destruction, but a harbor blast would render inoperable a major tool of commerce for years.
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