Posted on 04/18/2017 7:48:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
As Pentagon looks for strategies to pressure into denuclearization, officials worry that intercepting missiles could escalate tensions and risk war.
The US military is considering shooting down North Korean missile tests as a show of strength to Pyongyang, two sources briefed on the planning told the Guardian.
As tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threaten confrontation in north-east Asia, the Pentagon is looking for ways short of war to pressure North Korea into denuclearization, particularly if Pyongyang goes forward with anticipated sixth nuclear test.
The option, which defense secretary James Mattis has briefed to Congress, has yet to mature into a decision by the military to intercept a tested missile.
One US official said the prospective shoot-down strategy would be aimed at occurring after a nuclear test, with the objective being to signal Pyongyang that the US can impose military consequences for a transgression Donald Trump has said is unacceptable.
But experts and former officials said shooting down a North Korean missile during a test risks an escalation that Washington may not be able to control, one that risks war on the Korean peninsula and potentially devastating consequences to allies South Korea and Japan.
“I would see such an action as escalatory, but I couldn’t guess how Kim Jong-un would interpret it,” said Abraham Denmark, the senior Pentagon policy official for Asia in Barack Obama’s administration.
“But I would be concerned he would feel the need to react strongly, as he would not want to appear weak.”
Both sources said the military was not looking to use the high-profile missile-defense system the US is providing to South Korea, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (Thaad). Thaad’s 200km range and sophisticated radar have unnerved China, whose president, Xi Jinping, has been coaxed by Trump into pressuring North Korea.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
The problem in the world is that no one is worried about making US mad.
Simple solution. Have the CIA hack something and then blame the norks. They have the tools and experience to pull it off.
Just an opinion on the matter:
I think the carrier groups are being positioned to bait the Fat Boy. They will likely be setup in patrol boxes that runs across the NORKs possible missle test flight paths. I am making a big assumption but I think that their test firings do not fly over SK air space. So any test that flies over US military ships would be an act of war. At which point, we could then strike hard and fast.
If we shoot it down and it explodes.
Now might be a very good time for us to do some experimental weapons testing as well; a high-powered laser weapons system (LaWS) for example...
they are quoting a former Obama administration official....one without balls.
Thing is, Kim knows that if he DOES order a strike on Seoul, he’s done and either China or USA will be in control of NK within days (if not hours).
I’m betting on this being a time for using “deniable weapons” like X-ray lasers (burn damage to missile in-flight destroys missile with no “launch signature” or other evidence of whodunit), “rod of God” (pure kinetic impact dropped from space, minimal radar signature and no launch signature, no surviving debris), cyber attacks (deliberate software malfunctions, little/no evidence of origin), etc.
Along with Kim’s antics going pear-shaped with alarming regularity, the huge buildup of troops nearby is huge psychological warfare. Major hope is someone high up will decide to off Kim personally rather than have a lunatic drive the nation to war.
Popcorn?
RE: If we shoot it down and it explodes.
So, we can’t know until we shoot it down then...
Which means, we could possibly be shooting down an unarmed missile.
Kim Jong-Un could continue to play us with this by continually launching dud missiles while we waste ours shooting them down.
they have no nuke payload. Everyone can be detected way before they arrive.
RE: cyber attacks (deliberate software malfunctions, little/no evidence of origin), etc.
SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/04/world/asia/north-korea-missile-program-sabotage.html
Title: Trump Inherits a Secret Cyberwar Against North Korean Missiles
Perhaps. Or maybe a rusty freighter - or a suicide boat, or a billion dollar payout for "services" to a drug cartel, or a "gift" to ISIS with a Hertz truck. There are a lot of ways to deliver it if one has the nuke and the will.
The best way to stop it is eliminate it's source.
Why can’t we BOMB the HELL out of their weapons stations? Just destroy everything!
Why would anyone float this idea? If you want to “test” our missile defense system, try it against the NORKs test. If it fails, don’t say a word, it works, let everyone know...
That's exactly right. Trump is not going to attack NK out of the blue. Fat boy will have to do something significant first to start a war. IMO Trump is trying to trigger fat boy into starting a conflict.
Missiles are the greatest air weapons that threaten us and all our friends.
We are rapidly developing many really capable counter weapons, including lasers, defensive missiles, satellite weapons, etc.
Within a short few years we will have a comprehensive international defense that will likely be naval based.
We need NK and Iran to continue firing missiles so that we can test our counter measures. Live fire is the only way to know if our defenses are thoroughly working.
Once our defenses are deployed world-wide to hot spots, those regimes will be shown to the world and their own peoples as morons and not worthy of support.
RE: Why would anyone float this idea? If you want to “test” our missile defense system, try it against the NORKs test. If it fails, don’t say a word, it works, let everyone know.
We have LEAKERS everywhere. This line from the article already tells us:
“The US military is considering shooting down North Korean missile tests as a show of strength to Pyongyang, two sources briefed on the planning told the Guardian.”
Because this ain’t the movies that’s why.
Curiously, the last two tests ( including the one last week ) just totally FAILED.
Makes you want to go — hmmmm....
“An armed missile launch would be another matter.”
How would you tell the difference?
Once, and if, their missile clears their airspace and is over open water then it should be fair game to take down. They are testing their missile technology and we are testing our anti-missile technology. It is a win-win
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