U.S. Prepared Against North Korean Missile Launch Threat

President Vladimir Putin (R) gestures at his meeting with visiting North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il

By Dolores M. Bernal, NEWS JUNKIE POST

The United States is prepared and ready to react if North Korea carries out their threat to launch a long-range missile in the Hawaiian region this Fourth of July weekend, according to Air Force General Victor E. “Gene” Renuart.

“The nation has a very, very credible ballistic-missile defense capability. Our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, I’m very comfortable, give me a capability that if we really are threatened by a long-range ICBM that I’ve got high confidence that I could interdict that flight before it caused huge damage to any U.S. territory,” Renuart told the Washington Times on an article published today.

North Korea’s threat was reported on a Japanese newspaper last month shortly after South Korea pledged to join the United Nation’s Proliferation Security Initiative. The controversial initiative which was developed by former United States representative to the UN, John Bolton, calls for searching ships that may be carrying nuclear weaponry or materials. North Korea has argued that such searches violate its freedom and sovereignty.

Hawaiians have expressed doubt that the communist country will carry out the threat, but the U.S. military isn’t taking any chances. Renuart said that long-range interceptors have been place on the ground and sea.

Here is a snippet of the article:

They include ground-based Patriot anti-missile defenses deployed in South Korea, and U.S. Navy Aegis system missile-defense ships deployed to waters near Japan. Recently, the Pentagon also activated units of the Army’s new Theater High-Altitude Area Defenses that were undergoing testing in Hawaii, in response to indications that North Korea is set to fire a Taepodong-2.

So, how likely is it that North Korea is actually capable of launching a missile that would threaten Hawaii? Not very likely, according to the Union of Concerned Scientist (UCS) which issued a statement on Wednesday saying that North Korea’s launcher is made of components that are probably not made in that country and that may be hard to get.

Here is part of the UCS’ statement:

It is likely that these critical rocket components were acquired from other countries, and in particular from Russia. If this is true, it could mean that North Korea’s missile capability could be significantly constrained if it can be denied further access to such components.

But the unknowns about a country that keeps surprising the world and keeping it on edge may be too many. The White House hasn’t said anything this week with regards to the North Korea’s missile launch deadline. Perhaps there is really no reason to worry.

TV news report on how the U.S. has been preparing for NK’s missile launch.