US officials: No indication North Korean missiles can hit Hawaii, interceptors a prudent step

US officials: No indication North Korean missiles can hit Hawaii, interceptors a prudent step

wire.antiwar.com

A new anti-missile system ordered for Hawaii is partly a strategy to deter North Korea from test-firing a long-range missile across the Pacific and partly a precaution against the unpredictable regime, military officials said Friday.

The United States has no indication that North Korean missile technology has improved markedly since past failed launches, and military and other assessments suggest the communist nation probably could not hit the westernmost U.S. state if it tried, officials said.

The North's Taepodong-2 could travel that far in theory, if it works as designed. But thr

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"I don't see any evidence that Hawaii is in more danger now than before the last TD-2 launch," said Jeffrey Lewis, director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative at the New America Foundation.

It took North Korea about 12 days to complete ground preparations before the April launch of a Taepodong-2, roughly equivalent to a U.S. Titan missile.

If North Korea does launch a long-range missile from its new Dongchang-ni site on the west coast, it could be placed on a southeast trajectory toward Hawaii.

However, the only three long-range missiles fired by North Korea so far have fallen well short of the 4,500 miles required to reach the chain of American islands.

The North Korea missile launched in April traveled just under 2,000 miles before falling into the Pacific. That was about double the distance traveled by a similar missile launched in 1998. North Korea also launched a missile in 2006 but it fizzled shortly after take off.

Guys, this is just fear mongering. They did this with Iraq. We know that they are fear mongering. We should always be cautious. But we don't need to make stuff up about North Korea.

What do you think about this? People should have a right to know the truth about their capabilities. We don't need to lie about North Korea... why would people at the top lie? Unless they're hiding something?

wire.antiwar.com
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[edit on 20-6-2009 by Frankidealist35]

[edit on 20-6-2009 by Frankidealist35]

I would rather know that precautions are in place even if they are unecessary in the long run. This may be one of the best uses of tax dollars right now.

reply to post by Happyfeet


So you're happy that our tax dollars are being spent on something which our officials even say isn't worthwhile really?

reply to post by Frankidealist35


This is all much ado about nothing. N. Korea is throwing a hissy fit b/c it feels it is being neglected.

While I agree we should be watching them very closely, they are not the threat they wish us to believe.

US officials have admitted they didn't sense the building unrest of the Iranian people.

Better to be safe than sorry when dealing with North Korea, we sure don't want any July 4th fireworks.

America is in a very vunerable state right now with our weak President, there will be nations or organizations that will test us soon.

Obama is handling himself correctly; especially with respect to Iran.

In order to allow any kind of Democratic reform in Iran to occur, the U.S. government cannot be seen as meddling.