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Honolulu (AP) -- The U.S. military says it has intercepted a ballistic missile near Hawaii in a test. The sea-based test Thursday was the military's first since an errant satellite was shot down earlier this year. A target was fired from a decomissioned amphibious assault ship about 100 miles off the island of Kauai. It was a Scud-like missile with a range of a few hundred miles.

An accidental explosion in a secret weapons facility in Syria killed dozens of Syrian and Iranian military engineers as they were attempting to mount a chemical warhead on a Scud missile, according to an authoritative military journal. Fifteen military personnel and “dozens” of Iranian advisers died when the fuel for the missile caught fire and the weapon exploded, according to unnamed Syrian sources quoted by Jane’s Defence Weekly. The report said that the explosion sent out a cloud of chemical and nerve gases, including the deadly VX and Sarin agents as well as mustard gas, across the facility in the...

<p>Proof of cooperation between Iran and Syria in the proliferation and development of weapons of mass destruction was brought to light Monday in a Jane's Magazine report that dozens of Iranian engineers and 15 Syrian officers were killed in a July 23 accident in Syria.</p>

/begin my translation N. Korea: 'Missile Vehicle' Movements Spotted in Kittaeryong "Watching out for a possibility of launch in mid-September" (Seoul=Yonhap News) Kim Kwi-keun = Recently, S. Korea and U.S. intelligence agencies are  watching out for the possibility of more missile launches in N. Korea, after spotting large vehicles at Kittaeryong, Anbyun County, where N. Korea's missile training base are located. The sources revealed on Sept. 3, "The agencies spotted movements of many large vehicles recently, at Kittaeryong, N. Korea. We do not rule out the possibility that they are preparing for another launch of Rodong and Scud missiles." On...

DoD Finds Cruise Missile Defense 'Gaps' InsideDefense.com NewsStand | John Liang | August 17, 2006 A Pentagon assessment of the U.S. capability to defend the homeland against incoming enemy cruise missiles has found what it calls “capability gaps” that may not be solved until 2015. As a result, the Air Force's directorate of operational capability requirements is leading a Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System study “to determine the best approaches for mitigating high-risk joint gaps in the [Homeland Air and Cruise Missile Defense of North America] mission area,” according to an Aug. 9 request for information posted on Federal...

DPRK Scud, Rodong tests 'successful' The Yomiuri Shimbun Six of seven missiles that North Korea test-fired on July 5 fell inside a sea zone that was put off-limits for ships in advance by Pyongyang, government sources said Saturday, adding that the missiles' accuracy indicates the tests were successful. Soon after the launches, the government announced the six missiles, which were Rodong and Scud missiles and exclude the launch of a Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile, were estimated to have hit points 400 to 500 kilometers out to sea. But the government later learned the six missiles likely slashed down in an...

(LEAD) N. Korea building new missile bases, silos along east coast: Report SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has been constructing new underground missile bases and silos along its east coast in recent years to deploy intermediate-range rockets targeting Japan and U.S. military facilities on the archipelago, a report said Thursday. "The new bases clustered along the east coastal line, in particular, are short- and medium-range missile bases aiming at Japan and U.S. military installations in Japan," said a report written by Yun Deok-min, a security expert at the state-funded Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security. About 200...

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has been constructing new underground missile bases and silos along its east coast in recent years to deploy intermediate-range rockets targeting Japan and U.S. military facilities on the archipelago, a report said Thursday. "The new bases clustered along the east coastal line, in particular, are short- and medium-range missile bases aiming at Japan and U.S. military installations in Japan," said a report written by Yun Deok-min, a security expert at the state-funded Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security. About 200 Rodong missiles with ranges of up to 2,200 kilometers and 50...

Intelligence services in Seoul and Washington are analyzing suspicions that the seven missiles North Korea test-fired on July 5 include two new intermediate-range ballistic missiles with a range of 2,500-4,000 km. A government source said spy agencies detected electronic signals different from the North’s Rodong or Scud missiles from two of six medium-range missiles the North test-launched on July 5. Intelligence services considered whether they could be Scud-ERs with a range of up to 1,000 km, but additional analysis produced the suspicion that they could be a whole new type of IRBM, the source said. If so, they are...

/begin my translationLegislator Chung, "N. Korea to make up to 17 Taepodong's" Supreme Council Member Chung Hyung-geun   National Assemblyman Chung Hyung-geun, a member of Supreme Council of Hannara Party(note: S. Korea's conservative opposition) made a claim on July 14 regarding N. Korean missile launches. He said, "N. Korea intends to make up to 17 (Taepodong-2) missiles." Supreme Councilman Chung added this remark, at the council meeting held in (Hannara) party headquarter at Yom-chang-dong(, Seoul,) while adding, "N. Korea has plenty of black budget." He further explained, "N. Korea has No. 1 budget, which is for the Cabinet, and No. 2 budget, the...

N.Korea Has Eight Medium-Range Missile Pads: NIS The secret service says it has spotted eight launch pads for medium range missiles in North Korea. National Intelligence Service Director Kim Seung-gyu told a parliamentary committee Wednesday the launch pads were believed to be for Rodong-2 or Scud missiles. The NIS believes the missiles can be fired from the pads within three or four hours of preparation but the likelihood that they will be is small, a member of the National Assembly’s Intelligence Committee said. The NIS chief was quoted as saying that a long-range Taepodong-2 missile North Korea test-fired on July...

Starting on the Fourth of July, North Korea launched a salvo of seven short-, medium- and long-range missiles. Despite the failure of the single long-range missile, the Taepo Dong-2, the launches confirmed that North Korea is seeking to advance its missile arsenal in order to threaten both the United States and its allies in Asia. The short- and medium-range missiles, the Scud and No Dong respectively, all flew in the direction of Japan, so it seems that North Korea is focused on achieving a military capability to threaten Japan in particular. It remains unclear at this point whether North Korea...

The same North Korean ICBM efforts that throw a rock at Alaska can throw a large nuclear warhead at every ally the United States has in Northeast Asia. Japan and South Korea are not only close allies, they are critical trading partners. The risk of a war in this part of the world would inevitably threaten Chinese involvement in some form, and possible bloc trade with much of China for an extended period even if China did not become involved. Our troops and our bases in most of Asia would be at hazard as well. Americans need to stop thinking...

When it became clear that the Taepodong 2 missile North Korea test-launched early on July 4 had broken up less than a minute into flight and plunged into the Sea of Japan, many Americans felt a sense of relief. After all, the missile — belonging to a class that is thought capable of reaching the U.S. mainland — had failed, and Kim Jong Il had been embarrassed in the eyes of the world, if not those of the North Koreans who were told nothing of the test’s outcome. But an embarrassed menace is a menace nonetheless. Despite North Korea’s failure...

The US missile defense system was put to its first real test Tuesday and Wednesday with North Korea's launch of a long-range missile and a half dozen shorter range missiles. US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he was on and off the phone with top US commanders almost continuously for days before the missile tests. "I received the notification of the launch of these missiles probably within of a minute of when they occurred," he told reporters before a meeting with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Pentagon officials were circumspect, though, about how the multi-billion dollar missile defense system performed. "What...

/begin my summaryN. Korea: Launch Prep Complete for Additional 3 or 4 MissilesGovernment sources said, "In addition to missiles already launched, N. Korea has set up three or four of Nodong and Scud B & C missiles on mobile launcher, with all launch preparation complete. N. Korea declared the prohibited sea-travel zone which is in effect from July 5th to 11th, due to missile launches, and banned fishing boats from leaving port. Theoretically, more launches are possible for next five days. N. Korean missile launches so far./end my summary

/begin my translation N. Korea May Have Fired Up To 12 Missiles Six launches including Taepodong-2 were confirmed...the additional launches were being investigated It is possible that N. Korea launched six additional launches of short-range and shore-to-ship missiles, in addition to six launches of Taepodong-2, Nodong, and Scud surface-to-surface missiles, during dawn and morning hours of July 5th. Senior government sources said, "The confirmed launches so far by N. Koreans are one Taepodong launch and five launches of Nodong and Scud missiles, totaling six. However, we have indications that, between 7am and 8:13am, six additional missiles are launched, which we...

TOKYO - A defiant North Korea test-fired a long-range missile Wednesday that may be capable of reaching America, but it failed seconds after launch, U.S. officials said. The North also tested four of shorter range in an exercise the White House termed "a provocation" but not an immediate threat. The audacious military tests by isolated communist nation came despite stern warnings from the United States and Japan — and carried out as the U.S. celebrated the Fourth of July and launched the space shuttle. None of the missiles made it as far as Japan. The Japanese government said all landed...

most things about North Korea, little is known for certain about the Taepodong 2 missile. But there is no doubt North Korea does have a very long standing and pretty sophisticated missile programme. North Korea's intentions are under the global spotlight In 1998, before it began observing a moratorium on tests, North Korea launched a Taepodong 1 missile which passed over northern Japan and surprised Western intelligence agencies by the use of three stages in the missile's propulsion system. What is striking about the Taepodong 2 is that it could well be North Korea's first genuine intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)...

Since the story broke yesterday about finding 500 Shells of Chemical Weapons in Iraq, shells that contain Sulfur Mustard Gas or Sarin Gas, the Left and their media were quick to dismiss this extremely important find by using the lame excuse that these Chemical weapons Shells were produced before 1991 and hence its not effective anymore because it has much lower quality”. However in March 2003 UN report about Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction there is the following on page 77 (Page 79 of the pdf file), paragraph 1 of the report http://www.un.org/Depts/unmovic/documents/6mar.pdf : “ The Sulfur Mustard contained in...