Just some excerpts from a couple pre-Fourth-of-July stories.
- An Act of War, Not a Test
- In addition to their work on missiles and nuclear bombs, the two regimes have another thing in common. They are both psychopathic. Their rulers routinely utter the sort of threats, that would get men not in power put under medical sedation. President Ahmadinejad likes to fantasize about the nuclear incineration of six million Jews in Israel. And Chairman Kim Il-jong has fantasies about frying the United States.
- For a definitive statement on what the U.S. will actually do, after a launch, we go to the White House press secretary, Tony Snow. “We will have to respond properly and appropriately at the time,” he told CNN. Asked if he could explain what that meant, he said, “No.”
- If Necessary, Strike and Destroy
- Therefore, if North Korea persists in its launch preparations, the United States should immediately make clear its intention to strike and destroy the North Korean Taepodong missile before it can be launched. This could be accomplished, for example, by a cruise missile launched from a submarine carrying a high-explosive warhead. The blast would be similar to the one that killed terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq. But the effect on the Taepodong would be devastating. The multi-story, thin-skinned missile filled with high-energy fuel is itself explosive — the U.S. airstrike would puncture the missile and probably cause it to explode. The carefully engineered test bed for North Korea’s nascent nuclear missile force would be destroyed, and its attempt to retrogress to Cold War threats thwarted. There would be no damage to North Korea outside the immediate vicinity of the missile gantry.
The U.S. doesn’t have the capability to fight another war on another front. North Korea already has nukes, so if the U.S. attacks, say hello to World War III. Say goodbye to South Korea, Hawaii, Alaska, and parts of the west coast.