Matt Molnar
2006-06-18, 11:03 PM
Top US military officials are convinced that North Korea will be test firing a long range missile capable of hitting the West Coast of the US in the near future. Satellite photos show that they have completed the fueling process, a process that cannot easily be undone due to the volitility of rocket fuel. It is unlikely the missile would contain a warhead.
White House spokesman Tony Snow promises that we will "respond appropriately" when the time comes, without elaborating on what sort of response we would bring. Japan promises a strongly worded protest to the UN. Excellent military/intelligence reporter Bill Gertz of the Washington Times is speculating that we will attempt to shoot down the missile.
There are so many questions here I don't know where to begin...
-Will the response be an attack on military assets in North Korea, just an interception of the missile, or will we just complain to the UN?
-While we would likely easily decimate North Korea's miliary in a couple of days, would they start throwing everything they have at South Korea and Japan?
-We have that 747 with the crazy missilie shooting laser undergoing testing...is it likely that we have an operational unit ready to roll?
-We know these guys are nuts, and are really just upset that we've been paying more attention to Iraq and Iran than to them...should we really respond heavy handedly for conducting a non-damaging test?
And for the conspiracy theorists...
Is it coincidence that a long-planned "government continuity exercise" in which thousands of federal bureaucrats will descend into mountain bunkers is scheduled to take place tomorrow, June 19th?
Hmmm.
White House spokesman Tony Snow promises that we will "respond appropriately" when the time comes, without elaborating on what sort of response we would bring. Japan promises a strongly worded protest to the UN. Excellent military/intelligence reporter Bill Gertz of the Washington Times is speculating that we will attempt to shoot down the missile.
There are so many questions here I don't know where to begin...
-Will the response be an attack on military assets in North Korea, just an interception of the missile, or will we just complain to the UN?
-While we would likely easily decimate North Korea's miliary in a couple of days, would they start throwing everything they have at South Korea and Japan?
-We have that 747 with the crazy missilie shooting laser undergoing testing...is it likely that we have an operational unit ready to roll?
-We know these guys are nuts, and are really just upset that we've been paying more attention to Iraq and Iran than to them...should we really respond heavy handedly for conducting a non-damaging test?
And for the conspiracy theorists...
Is it coincidence that a long-planned "government continuity exercise" in which thousands of federal bureaucrats will descend into mountain bunkers is scheduled to take place tomorrow, June 19th?
Hmmm.