N. Korea has nuclear missile capability to hit US territory

Maybe he doesn't realize Portland is in the US?

First of all there is no physical evidence proving that N korea can reach the US. Just guesses. we estimate tehy have had enough time to come up with a way to strike the us but we are not positive. Keep in mind lots of countries have nuclear weapons and as much as we are the police state fearing that if we allow countries to have nuclear arms they may nuke someone...but wait allow me to ask a question what country again is the only country to use nuclear warfare?

I think that an unstable country should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons but in the case of N. korea i don't think they are gonna bomb us as soon as they have the capability. I think they know they would get the crap kicked out of them. THey just want it for their own safety. Maybe im wrong though...

And if they fire one or two of the missiles at the US, and kill a million Americans, maybe people will wish that we had invaded North Korea before they had finished developing their WMD.

Brandon9000 wrote:

And if they fire one or two of the missiles at the US, and kill a million Americans, maybe people will wish that we had invaded North Korea before they had finished developing their WMD.

now that's erring on the side of life, florida conservative style.

...but in the case of N. korea i don't think they are gonna bomb us as soon as they have the capability. I think they know they would get the crap kicked out of them. THey just want it for their own safety. Maybe im wrong though...

It certainly is, since an invasion before they had finished perfecting their WMD would have certainly taken far, far fewer lives than a couple of nuclear missile strikes. An invasion stacked up against any actual use of Korea's missiles would certainly save many, many lives.

As for whether they can build missiles to reach the US, that is a pointless discussion since they will be able to eventually.

I guess if ole Georgie hadn't been so concerned about those non existent WMD in Iraq he might have thought about N Korea back when it was possible to deal with them.

American Enterprise, Dec, 2002


But "inspections of self-declared sites are a joke" Krauthammer warned. "We know from our experience with Iraq that a country bent on developing the bomb can comply fully with regular IAEA inspections and build a massive nuclear program undetected."

Geez! Have some still not figured out there was no massive nuclear program in Iraq?

Pentagon: No New North Korean Nuclear Weapon Capability
By Al Pessin
Pentagon
29 April 2005


The U.S. Defense Department says a statement Thursday by its intelligence chief was not a new assessment indicating an increased nuclear weapons capability by North Korea. The spokesman was attempting to clarify comments made Thursday by the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

It was this exchange Thursday between Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and Vice-admiral Lowell Jacoby that made headlines.


Vice-Admiral Lowell Jacoby
CLINTON: "Admiral, let me ask you, do you assess that North Korea has the ability to arm a missile with a nuclear device?"
JACBOY: "The assessment is that they have the capability to do that, yes ma'am."
CLINTON: "And do you assess that North Korea has the ability to deploy a two-stage inter-continental missile, a nuclear missile, that could successfully hit U.S. territory?"
JACOBY: "Yes. The assessment on a two-stage missile would give, be able to reach portions of U.S. territory, and the projection on a three-stage missile would be that it would be able to reach most of the continental United States. That still is a theoretical capability in the sense that those missiles have not been tested."
CLINTON: "With all due respect, it is troubling beyond words that we have testimony like that at this time."

But on Friday, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita called an unexpected news briefing and offered this explanation of what Admiral Jacoby had said.

"He was not making a new assessment," said Mr. Di Rita. "There is no new assessment of North Korea's capability in this regard. And in fact, he was speaking about a theoretical capability to combine missile types and a warhead, such that you could have a theoretical ability to reach the United States, as he described."

Mr. Di Rita says Admiral Jacoby had said something similar a month earlier, and was only rephrasing his assessment, not offering new information. The key apparently new point was when Admiral Jacoby said North Korea is believed to have the ability to put a nuclear warhead on one of its inter-continental missiles. But Mr. Di Rita contradicted the admiral on that point.

"I don't believe we know that and I don't believe that that's part of the assessment," said Mr. Di Rita.

Still, Mr. Di Rita said North Korea's military capability is a threat to the international community, and must be dealt with. He said for now, the United States believes the most important thing is for North Korea to agree to return to talks that also include China, Russia, South Korea and Japan. He said "further steps" could be taken in the future, but he would not say what or when.

Earlier Friday in Seoul, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill said the North Korea nuclear situation "grows with a sense of urgency." Mr. Di Rita would not use that phrasing.

But at a news conference on Thursday President Bush indicated he is concerned about North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons capability, even though it has not been tested or confirmed.

"Look, Kim Jong-il is a dangerous person," said Mr. Bush. "He's a man who starves his people. He's got huge concentration camps. And there is concern about his capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon. We don't know if he can or not, but I think it's best when you're dealing with a tyrant like Kim Jong-il to assume he can."...

I would think that the fact that N. Korea has nukes pointed at Seattle and Portland would be a pretty significant news story. .