NYT:Korean Missile Said to Advance; U.S. Unworried(can't reach cont. U.S.)

[DeepModem Mom]

Korean Missile Said to Advance; U.S. Is Unworried
By THOM SHANKER

Published: August 5, 2004


WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 - North Korea appears closer to deploying a new mobile ballistic missile that is a worrisome increase in that nation's military capacity, but American government officials stressed Wednesday that the weapon could not reach the continental United States....

***

Fresh reports of North Korea's readiness to deploy the missile appeared in Wednesday's editions of Jane's Defense Weekly.

North Korea does not have a submarine capable of carrying the missile to within striking range of the continental United States. Officials also expressed doubts that the North Korean government had developed the missile for the purpose of hiding it inside freighters to be sailed closer to this nation's shores for launch.

"There is no way this can hit the mainland,'' an American government official said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. Even so, the missile's development raises questions about whether Russian or other scientists had helped develop the missile for North Korea, which has a troubling history of selling its military technology on the black market. The new missile, if launched from North Korean soil, would be able to put American forces on Guam and Okinawa at risk. North Korea has already demonstrated the capability to fire ballistic missiles that can reach across South Korea and Japan....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/05/politics/05kore.html

[lottie244]

1. Neither could Iraq's missiles (that weren't) reach the US.

That didn't stop us from invading.

[Kinkistyle]

2. Bush would never invade N.Korea.

Its too difficult.

[phasev]

7. Crop Dusters > Taepo Dong II n/t

[thecrow]

3. What about Rev. Moon's submarines

that we heard about YESTERDAY?

[daleo]

4. But Saddam's balsa wood model planes have been stopped

That's the important thing.

[truth2power]

5. Yep, that what I was thinking...

Didn't Dumbya say Saddam's drone planes were able to target our cities? Frickin' lying bastards!

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Fox had my late elderly father truly alarmed about Saddam's drones...

in the run-up to the war. (Home-bound, he watched Fox because it moved fast and had car chases, I think, and not for political reasons. He'd complain that to get any news in depth he had to turn to another channel. I'd just remind him again and again that you had to take Fox with a grain of salt.)

[Mokito]

10. It seems now they have to lie their way out of a precedent

One that they themselves created nonetheless. Do any of these twits even slightly grasp the meaning of irony?

[NickB79]

8. "There is no way this can hit the mainland,''

This coming from the same people who said there was no way planes would be hijacked and used as weapons, or that WMD's would surely be found in Iraq, or that tax cuts would definitely improve the economy.

If their record is to be trusted, I should start building a bomb shelter right now.

[DeepModem Mom]

9. That adamant line scared the bejeezus out of me, too! nt

[Sparky McGruff]

16. Even if it did, it would only hit blue states.

Washington, oregon, california. Who cares.

To paraphrase Dick Nixon "F*ck the west coast, they didn't vote for me"

[MallRat]

11. Hey, it's not like we have strategic interests in East Asia. Right?

The myopia of this Administration is absolutely astounding.

:argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh: :argh:

[HereSince1628]

12. Lying us into a false sense of security...

"North Korea does not have a submarine capable of carrying the missile to within striking range of the continental United States."

Ah, that is a lot of elephant feces. Granted there may be a need for refueling, etc. but if the boat has a tender for fuel, spare parts, etc this is not an impossible problem to solve. There are thousands of ships at sea, reprovisioning could undoubtedly be accomplished.

With respect to placing them on disguised freighters, why not? Do you notice that saying they could be launched from freighters is a quite nuanced difference from saying they developed them for that purpose?

I think Korea is developing them for subs, but if they were determined to launch them against the US, well, I think we would know it in a manner similar to 12-7-41 and 9-11-01, which is to say post hoc.

[msanthrope]

13. I guess the people of Alaska are screwed?

After all, note how the administration very carefully says that the missiles "could not reach the continental United States....".

But this article suggests that Alaska is reachable...


http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2...

[Barkley]

14. Propaganda to justify National Missile Defense spending - nt

[Gyre]

15. "There is no way this can hit the mainland"

But it sure as hell can hit California. "Ask us if we care". Said the American government official.

Well, since a murrikkkan government official said it I now really feel much safer! Thanks Mr. anonymous guvment official! Eff u punk!!!

Gyre

[meisje]

17. Must not be able to hit Israel either

[Ravy]

18. Uh, what about Hawaii? (n/t)