Posted on 06/19/2006 8:47:38 PM PDT by edpc
The Pentagon activated its new U.S. ground-based interceptor missile defense system, Bill Gertz reports in Tuesday's WASHINGTON TIMES, just as officials announced that any long-range missile launch by North Korea would be considered a "provocative act."
Poor weather conditions above where the missile site was located by U.S. intelligence satellites indicates that an immediate launch is unlikely, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
However, intelligence officials said preparations have advanced to the point where a launch could take place within several days to a month.
Two Navy Aegis warships are patrolling near North Korea as part of the global missile defense and would be among the first sensors that would trigger the use of interceptors, the officials said yesterday.
Gertz reports: The U.S. missile defense system includes 11 long-range interceptor missiles, including nine deployed at Fort Greeley, Alaska, and two at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The system was switched from test to operational mode within the past two weeks, the officials said.
I'm not as ambivalent. The Japanese are a modern, capitalist society, well-removed from the "emperor is god, we must rule the world" mentality of the WWII era. They are also our staunchest ally in the region, and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Besides, a rearmed Japan would be quite the burr in China's butt, a good thing in my opinion.
Sometimes I wonder if the Iranian bloviating and this NK missile crisis is an orchestrated attempt to get our attention off something else.
Yes, although one wonders about unintended consequences. I'm not even able to state any with authority except the broad "escalation of tensions", but hope you get my drift.
Also, the Japanese do have a centuries long history of aggression that shouldn't be forgotten. All that said, I do tend to lean more toward your observations of their modern advances and would probably mostly support their re-arming. (All the while hoping for the best)
If it's shot @ from the Sea of Japan then millions would be within visual range.
I don't know how many nations have a radar footprint 5,000 miles out over our part of the Pacific.
Such as? I'm not doubting you....I'm just curious.
You're not doing that with a sea-sparrow... :-)
Well, he didn't exactly say it like it would be a totally bad thing... this is Col. Hunt, after all.
And of course they would blame it on Buish LOL!
I prefer a "design failure" that goes "BOOM!" on the launch pad with Krazy Kim up close and personal, but I'll take any "design failure" I get.
Everyone should keep in mind that, despite how ticked off you may be about his immigration stand, etc., if it weren't for Dubya, we wouldn't have a missile shield to activate.
True, he did say goodbye to the ABM Treaty and let the MDA continue developing the system we have today. You're always going to have an issue or two where even your favorite rep or prez disappoints you.
I hope that we do better than I did back when I played this on my PC.
"It won't work blaming Bush for talking to long to North Korea or Iran"
If Iran gets the bomb, no American will want to blame Bush when it's proven Iran has it, because Americans will be too heartbroken at the loss of one of our cities. I bet Neville Chamberlain was approached by his countrymen not with scorn but sadness. The same will happen to Bush if Iran uses a nuke on us near 2008. Though I'm sure this has already been considered, in 2008, if there is a nuke smuggled into a large city in a key state on election day, what result? Bush cannot then pull an FDR and play the soldier-statesman--he will have served his term. I wonder if this is not an idea the Iranians already have in mind. Nobody will be looking to blame Bush if that happens--but there will certainly be no doubt who bears the responsibility for not stopping the Iranians militarily.
As for North Korea, they already have nukes. Nobody's blaming Bush for that mess--that bomb was awarded by Clinton's appeasement. All Bush can do is talk, nuke, or invade, and nuking/invading Korea is a nightmare America isn't ready for.
But Bush knows Iranians are working on nukes, knows they will use `em on Israel, the U.S., or both, and could at the very least use his bully pulpit to insist upon America doing something to stop it. He is not. Going to the Congress and demanding the ability to nuke Iran preemptively is a crucial first step he doesn't seem to have taken. America would be perfectly able to accept a glow-in-the-dark Iran. Their government has hated us and stirred up unrest worldwide, representing the worst of Islam, since the Carter era. We'd all be happy to see them gone.
Where in the chain of command is he again?
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