US: If N. Korea Launches Missile Without Notice, Can't Assume it is Test

[ECH1969]

The Defense Department says in the absence of any statement by the North Korean government it will not be possible to know whether a widely expected missile launch is a test or an attack.

Spokesman Bryan Whitman would not confirm reports that North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range missile, saying he could not discuss intelligence matters. But he says if there is a launch without any advance notice from the government in Pyongyang, there will be no basis on which to assume it is only a test.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-06-19-voa52.cfm

[Paulie]

1. Better assume!

Otherwise we'll all be in a load of hurt...

[Paulie]

2. And all this talk about NK and a missile test

Doesn't it mean we all know it's a test??? Catapulting the missile propaganda...

[Demeter]

12. Sounds Like A Happy Pretext For BFEE to Do the Nasty On Korea

as if they needed any pretexts. Hope the Army got the football away from the idiot.

[dbackjon]

4. And if it is not a test, and we assume is was?

Then what?

[endarkenment]

7. We obliterate them.

As the course of the missile can readily be determined from launch, we will have plenty of time to roll out that wonderful rocket blaster system we've poured brazillions into and punch that silly no dong missile right out of the sky. not to worry there your leader has it all under control.

f'ing hell are we all gone stupid?

[davekriss]

22. Then George W Bush will...

...take the controls of the Presidential 757 and, while avoiding collisions with any pentagonal buildings, and after navigating a near 270 degree turn while gaining 30,000 feet in altitude in just 3 seconds, will make a pinpoint collision with the missle's nose, ending in a flash two of the greatest dangers on the face of the earth.

Hallelujah! :nuke:

[endarkenment]

3. So we are like going to nuke them?

What the heck is wrong with us? We know this is a test firing, we've been watching it for days as they fuel it up and prepare the test, but we are going to consider it hostile if they launch it? Which side here is out of control?

[UpInArms]

5. Rumsfailed's opinion on victory:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0109/20/se.28.html

Now, what is victory? I say that victory is persuading the American people and the rest of the world that this is not a quick matter that is going to be over in a month or a year or even five years.

It is something that we need to do so that we can continue to live in a world with powerful weapons and with people who are willing to use those powerful weapons. And we can do that as a country, and that will be a victory, in my view.

Donald Rumsfeld, September 20, 2001

[pinniped]

6. I'm sure Dummy has a few SSBN ballistic missile subs ready....

and waiting at their super secret watery locations.

Better launch our missiles first, that way it won't matter if NK was conducting a test or not.

[5X]

9. Yeah, thats the ticket... lets preempt the test that may not be a test.

n/t

[pinniped]

10. lol. The only question is, will Dummy announce the launch to the....

N. Koreans?

[Tempest]

8. Stupid, and dangerous, posturing by a toothless tiger

North Korea gave advanced notice of the launch, it only makes sense they would announce the timing of the launch in advance as well.

Realistically, what can the U.S. do if N.K. makes the launch even it if isn't announced?

Is the Pentagon really so willing to sacrifice 35,000 U.S. troops stationed along the DMZ, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of South Koreans living along the DMZ?

[HuffleClaw]

11. *yawn*

more fear-mongering bullshit from BushCo.

[noel adamson]

13. Don't forget BushCo's provocation which initiated this current arms race..

...and don't blame NK or Iran for wanting to defend themselves. It is common knowledge in the world at large that neocons only target the most defenseless countries and individuals. From an already decimated Iraq to the homeless people in our own country.

Bullies are cowards.

[robcon]

14. I agree.

It's not a test unless NK announces it as such. If a missile from NK enters Japanese airspace, Japan should retaliate. I know I would if I were there.

I wouldn't assume it was nuclear, but I would assume it was hostile - absent a declaration of a test.

[daleo]

15. So, North Korea says "it's a test"

And that's that. Was there a war every time the Soviets tested? The Chinese? The British? The French? The U.S.? etc.

This seems meant to keep the paranoia levels high.

[katty]

16. bush set his 'axes' of evil in motion! cause and effect

[IndianaGreen]

17. What the Hell does that mean? Is the US going to nuke N. Korea?

Have any of the war criminals in the Pentagon considered the repercussions of nuking North Korea to their neighbors? Or are they so full of pride and testosterone that they can't even see that far ahead because their enlarged chests and penises block the view?

[Thor_MN]

19. I'm going to guess enlarged guts and so busy searching for their penises

(peni?) that they can't see anything at all.

[AlamoDemoc]

18. The US is playing a chess game with the UNSC who is now debating what to

do with N. Korea's missile test. They are letting the Chinese and Russians know that they are taking the North Korean missile test seriously and while hinting that the situation could amount to acts of war.

[Rex]

20. Oh, BULLSHIT!

American intel WATCHED them fuel up the dam missile! They know what type it is and where it is being launched from. It really is quite easy - if they launch that thing at us, it is war!!! Amount of fuel, range and trajectory will tell us exactly where that thing will fall! That fucker better not launch it at anything but the FUCKING OCEAN! That's if Lil Kim likes living and breathing.

[Thor_MN]

21. A little rationality here. It's a Nodong missile on top of a SCUD.

Not exactly terrafying, so they leave that out.

"Parts of the USA" = Guam, maybe, just possibly the Aleutian Islands.
"Light payload" = nothing anywhere close to a nuke.

Remember, this crap is being put out by the BUSH administration. They are purposely omitting relevant details that would make people say "Big Deal."

[Karmakaze]

23. No problem! Just use that incredibly expensive Missile Defence system!

I mean, it does work, right?

[shadowknows69]

24. Are these lunatics going to nuke North Korea?

Our lunatice not Kim Jong Il.

[mtnester]

27. This regime scares the hell out of me, but, I will look at this as a half

full glass this time...no WAY does our idiot in chief do this....teasing a dog through the fence is bad enough, but I believe even our idiot in charge knows that a dog named China and a dog named Russia can jump the fence anytime we come around with that stick. And he can't outrun either of them.

[Supersedeas]

25. Bryan Whitman comes out of the shadows to convey this tidbit of propoganda

[Megahurtz]

26. So what is he saying?

That if North Korea tests a missle the U.S. is going to push the button?:scared::hide::nuke:

Fucking smart!:sarcasm:

[slackmaster]

28. Setting the stage for the missile to be intercepted

Shot down.