What shall he do? We seem to be sending mixed signals though. Sec Def says we aren’t capable of shooting down the missile, while the Navy says we are. Which one is it? Since we did shoot down a wayward satellite from orbit, I tend to think we CAN shoot down a missile launched by the idiot over there in North Korea. And don’t think for a second that the two journalists that were kidnapped by the NKPA border guards aren’t an insurance policy for just such an eventuality. Me thinks that Kim Jong Ill is playing Obama for the douche-nozzle he is.
Gates: U.S. Not Prepared to Respond to North Korea Missile Launch
The defense secretary told “FOX News Sunday” that the United States can do nothing to stop North Korea from thumbing its nose at the international community by test-firing a long-range missile.
The United States can do nothing to stop North Korea from breaking international law in the next 10 days by firing a missile that is unlikely to be shot down by the U.S. or its allies, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday.
Appearing on “FOX News Sunday,” Gates said North Korea “probably will” fire the missile, prompting host Chris Wallace to ask: “And there’s nothing we can do about it?”
“No,” Gates answered, adding, “I would say we’re not prepared to do anything about it.”
Last week, Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, said the U.S. is “fully prepared” to shoot down the missile. But Gates said such a response is unlikely.
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North Korean rocket could reach Hawaii: US admiral
America’s top military officer said on Friday that a rocket North Korea plans to launch next month has a range that could possibly reach Hawaii.
Asked if the North Korean rocket could reach the US states of Hawaii or Alaska, Admiral Mike Mullen told CNN: “In some cases, yes, they could probably get down to Hawaii.”
International concern has been mounting about North Korea’s announcement it would launch a communications satellite between April 4 and 8.
The United States, Japan and other allies believe Pyongyang is using the launch to test a ballistic missile that could, in theory, cross the Pacific to reach North America.
The launch, combined with North Korea’s atomic weapons, were cause for serious concern, the admiral said.
Mullen added the regime’s missiles did not yet have a range that could strike the western coast of the US mainland.
Arms experts say North Korea has yet to demonstrate it has the ability to construct and fit a nuclear warhead onto a missile.
The launch, even if it is for a satellite as announced by North Korea, would help the regime in developing a long-range missile threat, said Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“What concerns me is the guidance, the engineering, the engines, those are all identical to the kinds of capabilities you’d put on a ballistic missile,” he said.
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Japan Prepares for North Korea Missile Launch
For First Time, Tokyo Says It Will Deploy Missile Interceptors Against Rocket or Debris From Pyongyang’s Planned Launch
TOKYO — Japan’s move Friday to deploy missile interceptors is the boldest challenge North Korea faces so far to its plan to launch a rocket in the next few days.
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said he ordered the deployment of missile interceptors to Japan’s northern coast to prepare to shoot down the rocket and any debris that could fall on Japanese territory. It was the first such order Japan had issued, a ministry spokesman said.
North Korea said it will launch a rocket carrying a satellite between April 4 and April 8, and warned that fragments could fall into the Sea of Japan between the two countries as well as southeast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean.
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