North Korea launches two missiles

here seems to be the latest in print. On googles said to have been posted 15 minutes ago. FOUR missiles. What I am getting or at least it seems -- they don't actually know what was fired. so much for American intelligence.


N. Korea Reportedly Launches 4 Missiles

TOKYO — North Korea test-launched at least two mid-range missiles Wednesday that landed in the Sea of Japan, Japanese media reported, and a State Department official said the North appeared ready to launch the long-range Taepodong-2.

Japan's Kyodo news agency said they were believed to be mid-range Rodong missiles and landed about 300 miles off the western coast of Japan's Hokkaido Island.


A Pentagon official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, identified two of the missiles as Scuds.

"The launch appears not to be the launch that has been in the news. This appears to be a launch of a lesser variety of scud missiles," the official said.

However, the State Department official said North Korea appeared ready to launch the long-range Taepodong-2 missile. The official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, did not confirm that the Taepodong-2 had been launched. Experts believe a Taepodong 2 could reach the United States with a light payload.


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Oh please I can't bear to think that we will take this bait.... are we that crazy? Here is where I prove to be very naive... I feel the same way right now (to a degree) that I felt on 9/11 when those two towers went down. I was begging the universe to stay any hapless retaliation.... of course the universe didn't grant my wish. That is what I am begging now...

format_quote Originally Posted by Woodrow

For them same reaso I get the feeling we been in WW3 since 1945 and nobody has been brave enough to acknowledge it.

actually the founders of the Project for the New American Century seem to have already dubbed the cold war as WWIII.... they hell bent on pre-empting what they jokingly have referred to as WWIV.

whats bush gonna do now lets see him invade north korea

fox news have just reported north korea have lauched 6 missiles one capable of reaching america

as of this morning it is 7. As for what is Bush going to do. at the moment the talk centers around Sanctions. While the US will support Japanese efforts, personally, I don't imagine we will rush to invade N.Korea. Afterall they do have a nuclear program.... it is much easier to invade when there is no evident danger of WMD's.


On another note. I am not sure this has gone as sensationally as Pyongyang had hoped. the long range missile fizzled out soon after it was launched.

Here is an interesting article.

format_quote Originally Posted by Asia Times

N Korea's missiles met by Japanese sanctions

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said "Japan will take any kind of sanctions we can" against North Korea, including economic and financial sanctions. Japan also plans to bring up the issue at the Group of Eight (G8) summit to be held in St Petersburg later this month, Abe said.

snip

North Korea has gone ahead with the launch despite international protests," Abe said. "That is regrettable from the standpoint of Japan's security, the stability of international society, and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This is a grave problem in terms of peace and stability not only of Japan but also of international society. We strongly protest against North Korea."

Meanwhile, Japan's Foreign Minister Taro Aso was consulting by telephone with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The two agreed that the UN Security Council should take up the issue.

Washington denounced the launches as a "provocation" soon after they were confirmed. "You're going to see a lot of diplomatic activity here in the next 24-48 hours, said National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. US anti-missile systems based in Alaska, California and at sea were on alert but not activated.

Japan and the US had warned in recent weeks that a Taepodong-2 launch would violate Pyongyang's self-imposed 1999 moratorium on ballistic missile tests, a 2002 agreement with Japan, and also its implicit agreement in the six-party nuclear talks last year. Pyongyang had claimed, however, that its moratorium on ballistic missile tests no longer applied as it was no longer in direct talks with Washington.

While stepping up diplomatic efforts to rally international pressure on Pyongyang to halt its preparations, Japan had threatened to impose economic sanctions in close cooperation with the US if the Taepodong-2 was launched, with or without a sanctions resolution of the United Nations Security Council.

Even before Wednesday's missile tests, Japan and the US reportedly had already begun discussions on a prospective Security Council resolution harshly condemning such action. Foreign Minister Aso said recently that it would be "inevitable" for the Security Council to consider imposing sanctions on Pyongyang if a launch went ahead.

But it remains to be seen how much support Japan and the US can garner. When Pyongyang test-launched a Taepodong-1 missile over Japan's air space in 1998, the Security Council only issued a statement to the press - not a binding resolution or even a chair's statement - expressing concerns. That was because China objected to discussing the matter in the Security Council.

However, this time China may agree to take up the issue because it must be aware of the seriousness of the situation and because of its position as the chair of the six-party nuclear talks. But Beijing's support for sanctions appears unlikely. Among the participant countries in the talks, China, Russia and South Korea have advocated a softer approach to Pyongyang, while the US and Japan have taken a harder line.

China and Russia appear unlikely to agree to economic sanctions against Pyongyang. Because of this prospect, Japan and the US have been poised to cooperate in imposing economic sanctions of their own, even without a UN resolution. Japan has already passed the necessary bills to do so on its own.


snip

Pyongyang has often warned that economic sanctions would be tantamount to a "declaration of war". To be sure, North Korea would suffer if Japan went that far. But the impact of the Japanese punishment would be limited unless other nations, especially China and South Korea, join in the sanctions.

snip

Japan now appears very likely to accelerate work on implementing recently enhanced security arrangements with the US and bilateral cooperation on a missile defense system. In April 1996, then prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and then US president Bill Clinton issued a joint security declaration in Tokyo reaffirming the importance of the bilateral security alliance in the post-Cold War era. The next year, Japan and the US adopted new defense cooperation guidelines to flesh out the declaration.

Beginning in May 1999, Japan set about enacting laws needed to put these agreements into effect. The government initially faced opposition the Diet (Japan's parliament). But the increased sense of crisis among many Japanese over threats posed by North Korea smoothed the way for passage, helped by provocations from Pyongyang.

snip

In December last year, the Koizumi government formally committed to the joint development of a new sea-based interceptor missile, called the Standard Missile-3 (SM3), as a main pillar of the US-led system. The joint development cost is estimated at a maximum of $2.7 billion, with Japan shouldering up to $1.2 billion and the US paying the rest.

Japan also decided in late 2003 to introduce a defensive system, using existing interceptor missiles, by 2007. Well over 100 Patriot Advanced Capability 3, or PAC3, surface-to-air missiles will be procured by the end of fiscal 2010. PAC3 missiles are intended to hit incoming missiles at an altitude of up to 20 kilometers that have escaped missiles launched from Japanese destroyers.

In July last year, Japan revised the Self-Defense Forces law to allow the Defense Agency chief to order emergency missile interceptions without waiting for approval from the prime minister and the cabinet. Since North Korean missiles would reach Japanese territory in about 10 minutes, the defense chief could not afford to follow normal procedures.

On June 23, Japan and the US signed an agreement to formally begin the joint development of an advanced SM3. And recently, the Bush administration reportedly notified Tokyo that it would deploy PAC3 missiles at a base in Okinawa by year's end. The deployment will be the first time the surface-to-air missiles have been installed to defend US forces in Japan from possible North Korean missile attacks.

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[S]Oh Crap![/S]

SO anyone got Bush's views on this!

no actually as of this morning AND as I already mentioned: it is being reported as SEVEN. HELLO!

of course (whoops) it is a kufr newspaper (one I don't subscribe to myself without scrutiny as it is mainstream) but the source of the count is Tokyo.

North Korea Test-Fires Seventh Missile

North Korea test-fired another missile today, at least its seventh such launch in 48 hours, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told reporters in Tokyo.

washington-post

format_quote Originally Posted by Woodrow

Bush may have sufficient support for action against Iran.

I certainly hope not. a surgical strike upon Iran would be a human tragedy that I am not in support of. There is or there was a rizing dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq. And behind that, though I certainly can't speak for every single American, I can't imagine (unless perhaps if there were another terrorist attack on American soil), that the bush cabal, would be able to easily rally this country to support an pre-emptive strike on Iran, even though a war staging in Iran has been one of the goals in terms of the Neo Conservative lexicon and their so called "War on Terrorism."