Report: N. Korea plans to fire missle at Hawaii. What should U.S. response be?

Brett

Report: NKorea plans to fire missile toward Hawaii
Jun 18 04:06 AM US/Eastern
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
Associated Press Writer

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July, a Japanese news report said Thursday, as Russia and China urged the regime to return to international disarmament talks on its rogue nuclear program.

The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles (6,500 kilometers), would be launched from North Korea's Dongchang-ni site on the northwestern coast, said the Yomiuri daily, Japan's top-selling newspaper. It cited an analysis by the Japanese Defense Ministry and intelligence gathered by U.S. reconnaissance satellites.

red55

Aegis cruisers USS McCain and USS Chaffey are in the Sea of Japan with boost-phase interceptors aboard. The Airborne Laser system is in advanced testing and may become operational this summer. It can also take down ICBMs on their way up, when it's easy to shoot them down.

An hour ago Gates announced that they were sending a mobile anti-ballistic missile system and its associated radars to Hawaii. This is a point-defense, re-entry phase interceptor and far more difficult to hit the target, especially if decoys are used.

If that warhead splashes down within 500 miles of Hawaii, Obama will have to take some kind of action. if it comes within range of the ABM, there is no reason not to shoot it down. If they are overtly threatening to overfly japan and target somewhere in Hawaiian waters, Obama may just decide to take the missile down over the sea of Japan. Sabre-rattling is one thing, but this is overt provocation that can not be taken lightly.

It may be the time to call their bluff if they go through with this. No one will back North Korea for staging a provocation like that.

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LSUsupaFan

It would seem that China would put the nix on such a shot before it ever came to pass.

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OkieTiger_KATT

everythng i am reading seems to indicate that china and russia (especially russia) are getting a tired of these shenanigans.

seems even they are seeing how unstable and bat-sh*t crazy the current leadership is.

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SabanFan

Biden was right. NK want's to see what Obama is made of. They wouldn't have tried that crap with Reagan and W. BO needs to show them that pushing him is a mistake. It's time to fish or cut bait.

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CajunlostinCali

I hope they miss and hit Tijuana.

shane0911

Thats one hellova miss but with the crap they have up there north of the dmz it would not surprise me.

Bandit88

China and Russia would love to see how this plays out. They get to test the new administration and observe our response systems without taking any risk or burning any bridges themselves.

And they know EXACTLY who controls NK and what they're like. It's their backyard.

It's also the Korean summer - harvest in a few months. If they're gonna flex, it has to be now. Because in a few months, they'll all be pickin' whatever rice and tree bark they have left to eat.

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Bandit88

I would collapse in disbelief if we fired on any of this unless we have reason to believe there's a real warhead and it's trajectory poses any kind of threat.

ABL has been cancelled by the Pentagon.

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Bengal B

Osama, uh, I mean Obama, dosen't have the balls to do what the right response should be. The only response to an actual threat to fire a missle toward any USA soil is to do a first strike on the North Korean missle sites and eliminate them from the face of the earth. At the same time I would totally destroy every site in North Korea capable of producing fissionable materials.

At the very worst the Chinese might say some strong words of condemnation but I can live with that.

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Bandit88

JMO, but. No administration would shoot this thing down unless the threat was clear. That means it would have to definitely have a warhead. It would have to have a trajectory that indicated it would land anywhere close to the US or our allies.

If NK does that? They're just plain stupid. And in that case, I think any administration that values American security would spank the everlovin' crap out of NK.

But firing it in a provocative direction (i.e. bearing, but no threatening range) is not grounds for offensive military action. It is, however, grounds for some serious international azzwhoopin on the economic, diplomatic and information facets of the game.

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LSUMASTERMIND

Some people arent satisfied unless we bomb everyone who issues a threat.

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DRC

Cant agree. If they fire this thing towards Hawaii it deserves immediate retaliation. All their missile sites should be taken out ASAP.

In the end I dont see them firing this thing towards Hawaii. The chinks wont let it happen. I dont agree with any preemptive strike either unless we had intelligence indicating they were loading this thing with a nuke. Which again, the chinks would never let happen.

At the end of the day this is nothing but a bunch of bluster from piss ant North Korea and nothing will come of it.

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islstl

We could always boycott the North Koreans from the next Olympics ala Jimmy Carter.

That worked well.

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Bengal Buddy

I agree 100%. In addition to a fledging nuclear arsenal, NK also has a respectable chemical/biological arsenal. The U.S. must take this kind of provocative threat seriously and deal with it swiftly.

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red55

Well, they broke a treaty under Dubya, detonated an atomic bomb, and shot missiles over Japan. They have tested every President since Eisenhower.

Agreed, but the time must be right. If they splash a missile in the open Pacific, after due notification, . . . well, we do the same thing and much of the UN doesn't like that either, so we won't likely make a military issue of it and just let the North Koreans worsen their own international position.

But if it comes anywhere near Hawaii . . . we have to smoke it. If it were to actually fall in US territorial waters, we may have to take out their launch facilities in retaliation. The Chinese won't like it and we risk the North Koreans launching a ground war against South Korea that we really do not need right now with most of the army in the middle east.

It may soon be time to call their bluff, if the Chinese and Russians are on board. Such an invasion will end up with North Korea no longer existing, as it would with any chemical attack against Japan or South Korea. I think they will lose face before they lose everything.

We may want to wait until the new dictator takes over. He's only 26, experienced at practically nothing, and may not have the confrontational attitude of his predecessors. And a frequent totalitarian political tactic is to blame all troubles on the last dictator and promise a new beginning. A face-saving back-down opportunity, perhaps. There are many things we can exploit during the succession of power.

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red55

As a future weapon system, yes, and the 2nd aircraft will not be built. But it will continue as a research program and the first aircraft is flying, operational, and has shot down missiles . . .

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red55

i don't think so. They are very worried that Japan and South Korea will respond in kind with new missiles and nuclear weapons. Chinese and Russians seek the status quo and it is North Korea that is upsetting it. They monitor our own anti-missile tests anyway.

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islstl

So what you're saying is, we got a chance.....

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charlie_c0756

I think there should be NO question as to our response if NK lands anything near US territory. We should immediately take out the site where the rocket originated. So far, every attempt at a long range ICBM launch had been a laughfest for NK so far. But eventually, they'll probobly get it right.
Our intercept capability is weak. We've had a few successes, but emphasis on the FEW.
During the first time we invaded Iraq, those of us in Saudi and surrounding areas were very aware that we hardly ever even knocked a SCUD down. CNN would point a camera in the air, show an airborne explosion, and say we killed another SCUD. In reality, the patriot intercepts were usually blowing up without engaging. I did recon flights over the entire area and I know we were no good at intercepting the SCUDs. And SCUDs ARE NOT guided. I lost 2 of my friends in a warehouse converted into a barracks in Saudi due to patriot systems not knocking down incoming SCUDs. I would have joined them if the SCUD had of hit a day earlier.
Obama will be tested if this launch is successful for NK. The launches are scheduled for the 4th of July. This will be interesting.


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Bandit88

I'm not saying I don't WISH we'd crush them if they do this. I think a good azz kicking does wonders for perspective.

But from a policy and international relations standpoint IN ASIA, it's not that simple IMO. I don't think any administration will shoot on an announced launch following an announced trajectory that does not directly endanger US or allied lives.

If they surprise us with something that has even a chance of hitting US or allied interests? Game on.

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Forum member discussing Russell Shepard's future at LSU, January 26, 2009.

http://lsutigerbait.blogspot.com

SabanFan

That's hardly the same thing as directing a missile at the United States.

And they didn't test Reagan in that manner, or they wouldn't be here

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LSUsupaFan

In all likelihood neither would we.

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mctiger

I agree that we really don't have legal grounds to stop NK from testing their missile. But I would hope somewhere in our defense policy there's a "line in the sand (water, whatever)" number, where we say, "inside this line, we don't care what you say it is or what you say you're aiming at, we're taking it out."

Didn't VP Biden predict some sort of major test for the new Pres a few months ago? Mr. Obama, you're on.

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red55

Hezbollah killed 241 Marines in a Beiruit barracks and they are still here. The Russians shot down a South Korean airliner and they are still here. Reagan gave the Iranians TOW missiles as blackmail to get hostages released by Hezbollah.

Every President gets tested. Reagan did better than most, actually, but he did get tried--by Panama, by Grenada, and by Libya who paid for it. And by Iran, Lebanon, and Russia, who did not pay for it. A measured response that favors our best interests is always better than a knee-jerk reaction to a provocation.

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"When you make the finding yourself - even if you're the last person on Earth to see the light - you'll never forget it." --Carl Sagan