Terrorism & other Man made disasters

How North Korea is prompting new efforts to prepare for a nuclear attack
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/duck-a … Kw?ocid=sf

Fleets of big black trucks, harbor boats and aircraft, equipped with radiation sensors and operated by specially trained law enforcement teams, are ready to swing into action in Los Angeles for a catastrophe that nobody even wants to think about: a North Korean nuclear attack.

American cities have long prepared for a terrorist attack, even one involving nuclear weapons or a “dirty bomb,” but North Korea’s long-range missile and weapons programs have now heightened concerns along the West Coast over increasing vulnerability to a strike.

“We monitor events all over the world and assess whether there is something that could impact us here,” said Capt. Leonard McCray, commander of the emergency operations bureau at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “North Korea is clearly one of them.”

As tension rises, the inevitable question is: How well-prepared are U.S. cities for a nuclear strike? The answer is somewhat unexpected. After two decades of fighting terrorism, law enforcement agencies and the federal government today are better equipped and trained to handle the aftermath of a limited nuclear attack than they ever were during the Cold War. Yet generations of Americans have grown up without learning how to protect themselves in the aftermath of a detonation.

Still, recent events have jolted emergency response agencies and prompted some to fine- tune their preparations.
A string of underground nuclear weapons tests and increasingly sophisticated missile flights have led analysts to conclude that North Korea already has the capability of sending a warhead to Alaska and possibly Hawaii. Within one or two years, based on its stunning rate of progress, North Korea should have Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore., within range, said David Wright, a weapons expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The U.S. has long tried to stop North Korea’s ascent as a nuclear power, but the national policy has largely sidestepped the question of how vulnerable U.S. cities are to a surprise attack and how much capability localities should develop to respond to a blast and radioactive fallout.

The U.S. abandoned its massive civil defense program near the end of the Cold War after realizing that any limited nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union would very likely escalate into a full-scale holocaust that would involve hundreds of nuclear weapon detonations. It seemed futile for people to try to survive such a catastrophe in public fallout shelters.

But the North Korean threat is different. The Pyongyang government may have only a dozen nuclear weapons, most of them unsuited for a missile delivery.
“People think everybody would perish, but that is not the case,” said Matthew LoPresti, a legislator in Hawaii who has been active in preparing for an attack there. “It would be a mass casualty event, but most people would survive. If you don’t take steps, more people will lose their lives.”

One ingredient that seems to be missing is a public awareness campaign that tells people what to do, said Dr. Robert Levin, chief health officer of Ventura County.

“We can save hundreds of thousands of lives,” said Levin, who has spearheaded one of the nation’s few major programs to draw up a detailed response plan for a nuclear attack. “We assume an attack would be on Los Angeles, but it will have impact on Ventura County because we would have millions of people fleeing this way and a radioactive plume that could reach over us.”

The county has written a 252-page nuclear response plan that deals with issues such as fallout (radiation levels drop 80 percent in the first day) to the management of dead bodies. Levin also developed a public awareness campaign, gaining strong support from local political leaders. One public service message shows a mushroom cloud and an actor singing, “Oh no, it’s blown, the cloud is in the sky. … You don’t need to be scared, you don’t need to be loud, because you can survive even a mushroom cloud.”

The civil defense work done by Ventura County is exceedingly rare, said Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear weapons historian and assistant professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.

There has been little public discourse since the Cold War about the consequences of nuclear threats, he said. As a result, an entire generation has grown up with little awareness of the danger posed by nuclear weapons.

This month, Wellerstein and other researchers launched Reinventing Civil Defense, a nonprofit project that over the next two years will examine how best to reeducate the American public on the nuclear threat — one that never went away. It is being funded by a $500,000 grant from Carnegie Corp. of New York.
“If we live in a world where a nuclear detonation is possible, and we do, then people should be informed on what that means,” he said. “It’s something that’s been nonexistent in our society since the late 1980s.”

The reluctance to prepare reflects what LoPresti calls a “generational PTSD” from the decades of living under the threat of instant thermonuclear war. “It is not something people are comfortable talking about,” he said.

LoPresti, chairman of the Asian studies program at Hawaii Pacific University and a philosophy professor, has sought to raise awareness of the dangers and push for some preparations. His own district would be within the fallout zone of an attack on Pearl Harbor, possibly the most important symbol of national security complacency.

Wright, the nuclear weapons expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said North Korea’s most recent missile test demonstrated a two-stage rocket that could reach Anchorage and Guam. But he expects that within one to two years North Korea will have enough reach to hit Seattle, 4,900 miles away, and then Los Angeles, 5,800 miles from its launch sites.

“They seem to be doing things in the right way and more professionally, which is worrisome,” Wright said. “They seem to have assembled a team of engineers who are solving their problems.”

But the task ahead will be increasingly difficult, particularly preventing a warhead from drifting far off target as it re-enters the atmosphere. Wright said North Korea would be lucky to land a bomb within 10 miles of a target. Even such a crude device could be effective against a city as spread out as Los Angeles.
An official at the Energy Department, the steward of U.S. nuclear weapons and its nonproliferation programs, acknowledged that it does not monitor what cities and states around the nation are doing. But if an attack does occur, it would be ready to send significant technical assistance from its national laboratories.

The main responsibility would lie with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which declined to provide an official to discuss the issue and did not answer written questions.

If the bright flash of a nuclear bomb ever lights the Los Angeles sky, it will be law enforcement and firefighters who would inevitably be the first responders.
The sheriff’s special enforcement bureau, atop a hill overlooking the 710 Freeway, has special trucks with advanced radiological sensors that can scan radiation levels as they drive through neighborhoods, quickly assessing the danger, said Capt. Jack Ewell, commander of the bureau. Terrorism still poses a bigger threat, he said, but “we train and equip ourselves for any threat.”

Every station in the county has radiological dosimeters, which tell radiation levels. A team of deputies has trained with federal authorities on nuclear weapons effects. The department has radiological assessment equipment on aircraft and patrol boats in the harbor as well. It would receive federal and local weather assessments that could predict fallout patterns.

“If we are dealing with a situation where there was a nuclear attack from North Korea, we are talking about an air burst that would devastate a large area,” McCray, the emergency operations commander, said.

“One advantage in our area is that we are resource rich,” he said. “I am convinced we would have a robust response. We don’t have the ability to do anything at ground zero, but we do have the ability to help at the perimeter. We have 10 million people in this county and there would be quite a few people to look after.”

An exercise is being planned in November that will test the department’s ability to respond to a range of emergencies that require mass care and sheltering. “Absolutely the exercise would help us prepare for a North Korean attack, but the same would go for a terrorist attack,” McCray said.

Some arms control experts say it would be a mistake to launch a full-scale civil defense effort in response to North Korea. Wright, the expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said such a response would send the wrong message that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has put a dent in U.S. confidence.
Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons analyst with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif., said Kim presents the same threat that existed throughout most of the last century. “He’s ruthless, but he’s not crazy,” Lewis said. “There’s reason to be cautious. But it’s not a reason to start digging bomb shelters.”

But Levin, the Ventura County health director, argues that doing nothing is equally wrong. The key point of the Ventura plan is to ask residents not flee, but to “get inside and stay inside” immediately after a detonation.

The county’s plan was developed with technical assistance from Brooke Buddemeier, a nuclear weapons effects expert at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He has made the case that sheltering indoors for just 24 hours after a detonation provides significantly reduced exposure.

“Talking about nuclear detonation is not one of those topics you can bring up at a cocktail party,” Buddemeier said. “But a little knowledge can save a lot of lives.”

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Thu Jul 27, 2017 10:04 pm

How North Korea is prompting new efforts to prepare for a nuclear attack
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/duck-a … Kw?ocid=sf

Fleets of big black trucks, harbor boats and aircraft, equipped with radiation sensors and operated by specially trained law enforcement teams, are ready to swing into action in Los Angeles for a catastrophe that nobody even wants to think about: a North Korean nuclear attack.

American cities have long prepared for a terrorist attack, even one involving nuclear weapons or a “dirty bomb,” but North Korea’s long-range missile and weapons programs have now heightened concerns along the West Coast over increasing vulnerability to a strike.

“We monitor events all over the world and assess whether there is something that could impact us here,” said Capt. Leonard McCray, commander of the emergency operations bureau at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. “North Korea is clearly one of them.”

As tension rises, the inevitable question is: How well-prepared are U.S. cities for a nuclear strike? The answer is somewhat unexpected. After two decades of fighting terrorism, law enforcement agencies and the federal government today are better equipped and trained to handle the aftermath of a limited nuclear attack than they ever were during the Cold War. Yet generations of Americans have grown up without learning how to protect themselves in the aftermath of a detonation.

Still, recent events have jolted emergency response agencies and prompted some to fine- tune their preparations.
A string of underground nuclear weapons tests and increasingly sophisticated missile flights have led analysts to conclude that North Korea already has the capability of sending a warhead to Alaska and possibly Hawaii. Within one or two years, based on its stunning rate of progress, North Korea should have Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore., within range, said David Wright, a weapons expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The U.S. has long tried to stop North Korea’s ascent as a nuclear power, but the national policy has largely sidestepped the question of how vulnerable U.S. cities are to a surprise attack and how much capability localities should develop to respond to a blast and radioactive fallout.

The U.S. abandoned its massive civil defense program near the end of the Cold War after realizing that any limited nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union would very likely escalate into a full-scale holocaust that would involve hundreds of nuclear weapon detonations. It seemed futile for people to try to survive such a catastrophe in public fallout shelters.

But the North Korean threat is different. The Pyongyang government may have only a dozen nuclear weapons, most of them unsuited for a missile delivery.
“People think everybody would perish, but that is not the case,” said Matthew LoPresti, a legislator in Hawaii who has been active in preparing for an attack there. “It would be a mass casualty event, but most people would survive. If you don’t take steps, more people will lose their lives.”

One ingredient that seems to be missing is a public awareness campaign that tells people what to do, said Dr. Robert Levin, chief health officer of Ventura County.

“We can save hundreds of thousands of lives,” said Levin, who has spearheaded one of the nation’s few major programs to draw up a detailed response plan for a nuclear attack. “We assume an attack would be on Los Angeles, but it will have impact on Ventura County because we would have millions of people fleeing this way and a radioactive plume that could reach over us.”

The county has written a 252-page nuclear response plan that deals with issues such as fallout (radiation levels drop 80 percent in the first day) to the management of dead bodies. Levin also developed a public awareness campaign, gaining strong support from local political leaders. One public service message shows a mushroom cloud and an actor singing, “Oh no, it’s blown, the cloud is in the sky. … You don’t need to be scared, you don’t need to be loud, because you can survive even a mushroom cloud.”

The civil defense work done by Ventura County is exceedingly rare, said Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear weapons historian and assistant professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.

There has been little public discourse since the Cold War about the consequences of nuclear threats, he said. As a result, an entire generation has grown up with little awareness of the danger posed by nuclear weapons.

This month, Wellerstein and other researchers launched Reinventing Civil Defense, a nonprofit project that over the next two years will examine how best to reeducate the American public on the nuclear threat — one that never went away. It is being funded by a $500,000 grant from Carnegie Corp. of New York.
“If we live in a world where a nuclear detonation is possible, and we do, then people should be informed on what that means,” he said. “It’s something that’s been nonexistent in our society since the late 1980s.”

The reluctance to prepare reflects what LoPresti calls a “generational PTSD” from the decades of living under the threat of instant thermonuclear war. “It is not something people are comfortable talking about,” he said.

LoPresti, chairman of the Asian studies program at Hawaii Pacific University and a philosophy professor, has sought to raise awareness of the dangers and push for some preparations. His own district would be within the fallout zone of an attack on Pearl Harbor, possibly the most important symbol of national security complacency.

Wright, the nuclear weapons expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said North Korea’s most recent missile test demonstrated a two-stage rocket that could reach Anchorage and Guam. But he expects that within one to two years North Korea will have enough reach to hit Seattle, 4,900 miles away, and then Los Angeles, 5,800 miles from its launch sites.

“They seem to be doing things in the right way and more professionally, which is worrisome,” Wright said. “They seem to have assembled a team of engineers who are solving their problems.”

But the task ahead will be increasingly difficult, particularly preventing a warhead from drifting far off target as it re-enters the atmosphere. Wright said North Korea would be lucky to land a bomb within 10 miles of a target. Even such a crude device could be effective against a city as spread out as Los Angeles.
An official at the Energy Department, the steward of U.S. nuclear weapons and its nonproliferation programs, acknowledged that it does not monitor what cities and states around the nation are doing. But if an attack does occur, it would be ready to send significant technical assistance from its national laboratories.

The main responsibility would lie with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which declined to provide an official to discuss the issue and did not answer written questions.

If the bright flash of a nuclear bomb ever lights the Los Angeles sky, it will be law enforcement and firefighters who would inevitably be the first responders.
The sheriff’s special enforcement bureau, atop a hill overlooking the 710 Freeway, has special trucks with advanced radiological sensors that can scan radiation levels as they drive through neighborhoods, quickly assessing the danger, said Capt. Jack Ewell, commander of the bureau. Terrorism still poses a bigger threat, he said, but “we train and equip ourselves for any threat.”

Every station in the county has radiological dosimeters, which tell radiation levels. A team of deputies has trained with federal authorities on nuclear weapons effects. The department has radiological assessment equipment on aircraft and patrol boats in the harbor as well. It would receive federal and local weather assessments that could predict fallout patterns.

“If we are dealing with a situation where there was a nuclear attack from North Korea, we are talking about an air burst that would devastate a large area,” McCray, the emergency operations commander, said.

“One advantage in our area is that we are resource rich,” he said. “I am convinced we would have a robust response. We don’t have the ability to do anything at ground zero, but we do have the ability to help at the perimeter. We have 10 million people in this county and there would be quite a few people to look after.”

An exercise is being planned in November that will test the department’s ability to respond to a range of emergencies that require mass care and sheltering. “Absolutely the exercise would help us prepare for a North Korean attack, but the same would go for a terrorist attack,” McCray said.

Some arms control experts say it would be a mistake to launch a full-scale civil defense effort in response to North Korea. Wright, the expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said such a response would send the wrong message that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un has put a dent in U.S. confidence.
Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear weapons analyst with the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, Calif., said Kim presents the same threat that existed throughout most of the last century. “He’s ruthless, but he’s not crazy,” Lewis said. “There’s reason to be cautious. But it’s not a reason to start digging bomb shelters.”

But Levin, the Ventura County health director, argues that doing nothing is equally wrong. The key point of the Ventura plan is to ask residents not flee, but to “get inside and stay inside” immediately after a detonation.

The county’s plan was developed with technical assistance from Brooke Buddemeier, a nuclear weapons effects expert at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He has made the case that sheltering indoors for just 24 hours after a detonation provides significantly reduced exposure.

“Talking about nuclear detonation is not one of those topics you can bring up at a cocktail party,” Buddemeier said. “But a little knowledge can save a lot of lives.”

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Thu Jul 27, 2017 10:04 pm

“Hawaii is the first state to announce a public campaign urging those living there to prepare for a nuclear attack. “

As N. Korea missile threat looms, Hawaii bunker may play key role
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-nort … ness-plan/

People in Hawaii are keeping a close eye on North Korea Thursday morning. The Pentagon reportedly detected signs that the country could launch another missile test.

North Korea’s last Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (IBM) test caused global alarm and experts say Alaska and Hawaii could be in range. Hawaii is the first state to announce a public campaign urging those living there to prepare for a nuclear attack.

CBS News correspondent Carter Evans reports a bunker, located under more than 1000 feet of rock, could soon be used as an ideal place to ride out a nuclear attack.

Every time North Korea fires a missile, the regime gets one step closer to reaching the Hawaiian Islands.

“In the last two years, there was 56 missile launches,” State Representative Gene Ward said. “That is a wake-up call.”

Ward says it would take less than 20 minutes for a nuclear missile to reach Honolulu — something state officials want the nearly 1.5 million people who live in the islands to prepare for.

“The first thing that we are responsible for is the security of our people,” Ward said. “At least to keep the government running, and that’s the important part of it.”

In the event of a nuclear emergency, Ward wants key government officials to have a safe place to operate, beneath Diamond Head. The jewel of Wakiki houses a little-known network of tunnels the military has used for more than a century.

Lt. Col. Charles Anthony is with the National Guard. He showed Evans the labyrinth of concrete tunnels and bunkers built into the dormant volcano. He says there are no plans to use them as a shelter.

“It was designed to withstand an artillery barrage and also to unleash an artillery barrage in the opposite direction,” Anthony said. “But this was not really designed for people. This was designed for equipment, material and weapons.”

Every vital public service in the islands can be controlled from within these two miles of air conditioned tunnels. Back in the 1950s, the government turned these old ammunition storage rooms in the tunnels into a civil defense hub.

To date, the state’s emergency operation center runs 24-7 in an underground bunker nearby.

Retired General Vern Miyagi is in charge of the state’s emergency management agency. He says he doesn’t expect those 1950s-era civil defense drills.

Emergency officials believe the majority of the population would survive the initial explosion. What they need to be prepared for is the nuclear fallout and to stay inside for up to two weeks.

“What we’re focused on right now is shelter in place,” Miyagi said. “The idea is to figure out ahead of time where you are, where your family is, and what is the best type of shelter that they can get to at that time of the day.”

What everyone is concerned about is the impact all this talk of preparing for a nuclear attack could have on tourism. The economy relies heavily on the 9 million visitors who come to Hawaii every year.

The local government wants everyone to know Hawaii is still open for business.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:40 pm

“Hawaii is the first state to announce a public campaign urging those living there to prepare for a nuclear attack. “

As N. Korea missile threat looms, Hawaii bunker may play key role
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-nort … ness-plan/

People in Hawaii are keeping a close eye on North Korea Thursday morning. The Pentagon reportedly detected signs that the country could launch another missile test.

North Korea’s last Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (IBM) test caused global alarm and experts say Alaska and Hawaii could be in range. Hawaii is the first state to announce a public campaign urging those living there to prepare for a nuclear attack.

CBS News correspondent Carter Evans reports a bunker, located under more than 1000 feet of rock, could soon be used as an ideal place to ride out a nuclear attack.

Every time North Korea fires a missile, the regime gets one step closer to reaching the Hawaiian Islands.

“In the last two years, there was 56 missile launches,” State Representative Gene Ward said. “That is a wake-up call.”

Ward says it would take less than 20 minutes for a nuclear missile to reach Honolulu — something state officials want the nearly 1.5 million people who live in the islands to prepare for.

“The first thing that we are responsible for is the security of our people,” Ward said. “At least to keep the government running, and that’s the important part of it.”

In the event of a nuclear emergency, Ward wants key government officials to have a safe place to operate, beneath Diamond Head. The jewel of Wakiki houses a little-known network of tunnels the military has used for more than a century.

Lt. Col. Charles Anthony is with the National Guard. He showed Evans the labyrinth of concrete tunnels and bunkers built into the dormant volcano. He says there are no plans to use them as a shelter.

“It was designed to withstand an artillery barrage and also to unleash an artillery barrage in the opposite direction,” Anthony said. “But this was not really designed for people. This was designed for equipment, material and weapons.”

Every vital public service in the islands can be controlled from within these two miles of air conditioned tunnels. Back in the 1950s, the government turned these old ammunition storage rooms in the tunnels into a civil defense hub.

To date, the state’s emergency operation center runs 24-7 in an underground bunker nearby.

Retired General Vern Miyagi is in charge of the state’s emergency management agency. He says he doesn’t expect those 1950s-era civil defense drills.

Emergency officials believe the majority of the population would survive the initial explosion. What they need to be prepared for is the nuclear fallout and to stay inside for up to two weeks.

“What we’re focused on right now is shelter in place,” Miyagi said. “The idea is to figure out ahead of time where you are, where your family is, and what is the best type of shelter that they can get to at that time of the day.”

What everyone is concerned about is the impact all this talk of preparing for a nuclear attack could have on tourism. The economy relies heavily on the 9 million visitors who come to Hawaii every year.

The local government wants everyone to know Hawaii is still open for business.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:40 pm

Say a prayer for all those on the Korean peninsula. We have many fine soldiers there serving to
protect those folks.

Not a good situation.

Statistics: Posted by PatrioticStabilist — Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:07 am

Say a prayer for all those on the Korean peninsula. We have many fine soldiers there serving to
protect those folks.

Not a good situation.

Statistics: Posted by PatrioticStabilist — Wed Jul 26, 2017 11:07 am

Looks like missile launch will be sooner, rather than later. When I read these recent reports, I see the reference ‘Heart of America’. I guess you can take that to be several different ways/options: (your guess is as good as mine, but my initial thought is an attempt at the grid)

• the LITERAL heart … ie: Washington DC
• the physical location … ie: the heartland (midwest)
• the infastructure, which runs our country like a heart … ie: our electric grid.

Intelligence officials: North Korean Missile Could Reach US within One year
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960504001606

TEHRAN (FNA)- Intelligence agencies said that it will take only one year for North Korea to have missiles capable of reaching the United States.

In the new estimate, which is 3 years shorter than the previous one, an intercontinental missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon would survive the stresses of re-entry, according to several administration officials briefed on the new assessment, presstv reported.

This comes as earlier this month Pyongyang test-fired its first ICBM, which experts believe can reach Alaska.

The North said the missile, that was launched on July 4, the US Independence Day, could hit anywhere in the world.

The officials also said that the new assessment shows they underestimated the determination of North Korean leader Kim Jung-un to race ahead with a weapon that could reach the US soil, even if it is not accurately engineered.

Last week, General Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, saying the most recent test did not show that North Korea possesses “the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success.”

However, Selva’s statement went far beyond what most officials at the Pentagon had been allowed to reveal for the public before the most recent test.

It also reflects a growing notion, from the Defense Intelligence Agency to the CIA, that Kim’s missile engineers have been able to clear most of the major hurdles, even though they are still refining the technology.

According to one senior intelligence official, the best the US can do now is delay the day when North Korea demonstrates its missiles can reach beyond Alaska and Hawaii.

“It’s a big long supply chain to build this thing out,” the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, said last week at the Aspen Security Forum, the first public reference to a long-running covert program to undermine the parts and technologies being taken into North Korea.

“As for the regime, I am hopeful we will find a way to separate it” from its missile and nuclear capabilities, he added.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement from Scott Bray, the national intelligence manager for East Asia, which somewhat acknowledged that judgments are shifting.

“North Korea’s recent test of an intercontinental range ballistic missile, which was not a surprise to the Intelligence Community — is one of the milestones that we have expected would help refine our timeline and judgments on the threats that Kim Jong-un poses to the continental United States,” Bray wrote.

“This test, and its impact on our assessments, highlight the threat that North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose to the United States, to our allies in the region, and to the whole world.”

MORE on THIS:

North Korea could test ICBM later today
http://www.forexlive.com/news/!/north-k … y-20170726

Wed 26 Jul 2017

North Korea is expected to test an ICBM as soon as tonight, according to US officials cited by Fox News.

The best column I’ve read about North Korea was written earlier this month by Eli Lake. He convincingly argued that Kim Jong-In can’t be stopped.

“The sad truth is that North Korea is dangerously close to going nuclear, and almost every expert who has studied the problem understands there is nothing the U.S. can do about it,” he wrote.

“If you want to stop North Korea from getting a nuke, that requires war. If you’re not prepared to go that far, stop pretending the U.S. can achieve its goals with more talking. It won’t work.”

=======================

North Korea ICBM Launch Expected “As Soon As Tonight”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-2 … on-tonight

by Tyler Durden Jul 26, 2017 10:40 AM

According to Fox News, another North Korean ICBM launch is expected as soon as tonight. Each additional test highlights that Trump’s current strategy of containing Kim appears to not be working, as the North Korean continues to defy the US and China’s demands to stop.

NORTH KOREA ICBM LAUNCH EXPECTED AS SOON AS WEDNESDAY NIGHT – U.S. OFFICIALS: FOX NEWS

According to Citi, the news “may well affect risk sentiment – perhaps depending upon the success of the test, the estimated range of the missile.” The bank adds to expect headlines from Trump, China and North and South Korea. In terms of markets, keep an eye on USDJPY, USDKRW, AsiaFX generally and perhaps even gold (plus local equity markets).

The ICBM test is set to take place just days before the U.S. is set to conduct another missile interception test this weekend, with the latest exercise based on a remote Alaskan island and coming amid the growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea.

According to Fox News, a notice put out by the U.S. Coast Guard last week warns of “hazardous operations,” saying “The Alaska Aerospace Corporation is conducting a rocket launch from the Kodiak Narrow Cape Launch Facility, located on Kodiak Island, Alaska.” They are warning vessels to steer clear of several areas between Alaska and Hawaii during the launch which is scheduled for July 29.

The U.S. military is set to conduct a test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile shield at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska “soon,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told Fox News on Monday.

Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Logan declined to comment on the plan or its connection to the ongoing threat from North Korea. The U.S. has conducted a spate of successful missile intercept tests in recent months as Pyongyang has executed offensive missile testing.

So far, Citi’s assessment of the latest ICBM test having a “negative impact” on risk is proving false.

=======================

Pentagon Suspects North Korean Missile Test May Be Imminent
http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/26/penta … -imminent/

The Pentagon has reportedly detected signs indicating a North Korean missile test may be imminent.

“They’re setting up for something,” a U.S. defense official told AFP. The U.S. military has spotted a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile transporter-erector and firing table in Kusong in North Pyongan Province, U.S. officials with knowledge of North Korea’s weapons programs revealed to The Diplomat. Defense officials suggested that another ballistic missile test could come within a matter of days, according to Reuters.

A missile test is expected on or around July 27, the 64th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, as North Korea has a tendency to mark major events with provocative acts and displays of power.

North Korea demonstrated ICBM capability on July 4, but additional testing is required. The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, according to The Washington Post, assesses that the North will be able to field a reliable, nuclear-armed long-range ballistic missile as early as next year, much sooner than analysts initially expected. Some defense analysts, however, disagree with the new assessment.

“There is no question that the DPRK has moved further and faster with its effort to develop a reliable, nuclear-capable ICBM that can be built in quantity, but there are still doubts about whether it can cross that threshold in a year,” an official told Reuters.

North Korea has yet to present a durable re-entry vehicle or a miniaturized nuclear warhead. Expert observers suspect that the North has a re-entry vehicle that could potentially survive the stress of an intercontinental flight, and after five nuclear tests, there is a strong possibility that North Korea has a nuclear bomb small enough to mount on a ballistic missile as they claim. The North may be preparing to show off its capabilities as some still doubt that the July 4 test was one of a true ICBM.

The Hwasong-14 is believed to have a range between 4,500 and 6,000 miles, putting Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of the West Coast within striking distance.

North Korea is in the process of developing a strategic missile force to build a strong deterrent against the U.S. and its allies. North Korea has tested over a dozen missiles this year, launching a collection of brand new short-, medium-, intermediate-, and long-range ballistic missiles, as well as a new and improved surface-to-air missiles and coastal defense cruise missiles. It is unclear how long it will take to field a strategic force, but the North is moving in that direction at an accelerated rate.

North Korea threatened Wednesday to launch a nuclear strike against the U.S. if the latter miscalculates.

“If enemies misunderstand our strategic status and stick to options of staging a pre-emptive nuclear attack against us, we will launch a nuclear attack on America’s heart as the most relentless punishment without warning or prior notice,” North Korean state media stated, repeating phrases uttered repeatedly in recent weeks.

U.S. defense officials suggest that such a move would be suicidal on the part of North Korea.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:59 am

Looks like missile launch will be sooner, rather than later. When I read these recent reports, I see the reference ‘Heart of America’. I guess you can take that to be several different ways/options: (your guess is as good as mine, but my initial thought is an attempt at the grid)

• the LITERAL heart … ie: Washington DC
• the physical location … ie: the heartland (midwest)
• the infastructure, which runs our country like a heart … ie: our electric grid.

Intelligence officials: North Korean Missile Could Reach US within One year
http://en.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13960504001606

TEHRAN (FNA)- Intelligence agencies said that it will take only one year for North Korea to have missiles capable of reaching the United States.

In the new estimate, which is 3 years shorter than the previous one, an intercontinental missile capable of carrying a nuclear weapon would survive the stresses of re-entry, according to several administration officials briefed on the new assessment, presstv reported.

This comes as earlier this month Pyongyang test-fired its first ICBM, which experts believe can reach Alaska.

The North said the missile, that was launched on July 4, the US Independence Day, could hit anywhere in the world.

The officials also said that the new assessment shows they underestimated the determination of North Korean leader Kim Jung-un to race ahead with a weapon that could reach the US soil, even if it is not accurately engineered.

Last week, General Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, saying the most recent test did not show that North Korea possesses “the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success.”

However, Selva’s statement went far beyond what most officials at the Pentagon had been allowed to reveal for the public before the most recent test.

It also reflects a growing notion, from the Defense Intelligence Agency to the CIA, that Kim’s missile engineers have been able to clear most of the major hurdles, even though they are still refining the technology.

According to one senior intelligence official, the best the US can do now is delay the day when North Korea demonstrates its missiles can reach beyond Alaska and Hawaii.

“It’s a big long supply chain to build this thing out,” the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo, said last week at the Aspen Security Forum, the first public reference to a long-running covert program to undermine the parts and technologies being taken into North Korea.

“As for the regime, I am hopeful we will find a way to separate it” from its missile and nuclear capabilities, he added.

A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement from Scott Bray, the national intelligence manager for East Asia, which somewhat acknowledged that judgments are shifting.

“North Korea’s recent test of an intercontinental range ballistic missile, which was not a surprise to the Intelligence Community — is one of the milestones that we have expected would help refine our timeline and judgments on the threats that Kim Jong-un poses to the continental United States,” Bray wrote.

“This test, and its impact on our assessments, highlight the threat that North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose to the United States, to our allies in the region, and to the whole world.”

MORE on THIS:

North Korea could test ICBM later today
http://www.forexlive.com/news/!/north-k … y-20170726

Wed 26 Jul 2017

North Korea is expected to test an ICBM as soon as tonight, according to US officials cited by Fox News.

The best column I’ve read about North Korea was written earlier this month by Eli Lake. He convincingly argued that Kim Jong-In can’t be stopped.

“The sad truth is that North Korea is dangerously close to going nuclear, and almost every expert who has studied the problem understands there is nothing the U.S. can do about it,” he wrote.

“If you want to stop North Korea from getting a nuke, that requires war. If you’re not prepared to go that far, stop pretending the U.S. can achieve its goals with more talking. It won’t work.”

=======================

North Korea ICBM Launch Expected “As Soon As Tonight”
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-2 … on-tonight

by Tyler Durden Jul 26, 2017 10:40 AM

According to Fox News, another North Korean ICBM launch is expected as soon as tonight. Each additional test highlights that Trump’s current strategy of containing Kim appears to not be working, as the North Korean continues to defy the US and China’s demands to stop.

NORTH KOREA ICBM LAUNCH EXPECTED AS SOON AS WEDNESDAY NIGHT – U.S. OFFICIALS: FOX NEWS

According to Citi, the news “may well affect risk sentiment – perhaps depending upon the success of the test, the estimated range of the missile.” The bank adds to expect headlines from Trump, China and North and South Korea. In terms of markets, keep an eye on USDJPY, USDKRW, AsiaFX generally and perhaps even gold (plus local equity markets).

The ICBM test is set to take place just days before the U.S. is set to conduct another missile interception test this weekend, with the latest exercise based on a remote Alaskan island and coming amid the growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea.

According to Fox News, a notice put out by the U.S. Coast Guard last week warns of “hazardous operations,” saying “The Alaska Aerospace Corporation is conducting a rocket launch from the Kodiak Narrow Cape Launch Facility, located on Kodiak Island, Alaska.” They are warning vessels to steer clear of several areas between Alaska and Hawaii during the launch which is scheduled for July 29.

The U.S. military is set to conduct a test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile shield at the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska “soon,” Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis told Fox News on Monday.

Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Logan declined to comment on the plan or its connection to the ongoing threat from North Korea. The U.S. has conducted a spate of successful missile intercept tests in recent months as Pyongyang has executed offensive missile testing.

So far, Citi’s assessment of the latest ICBM test having a “negative impact” on risk is proving false.

=======================

Pentagon Suspects North Korean Missile Test May Be Imminent
http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/26/penta … -imminent/

The Pentagon has reportedly detected signs indicating a North Korean missile test may be imminent.

“They’re setting up for something,” a U.S. defense official told AFP. The U.S. military has spotted a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile transporter-erector and firing table in Kusong in North Pyongan Province, U.S. officials with knowledge of North Korea’s weapons programs revealed to The Diplomat. Defense officials suggested that another ballistic missile test could come within a matter of days, according to Reuters.

A missile test is expected on or around July 27, the 64th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, as North Korea has a tendency to mark major events with provocative acts and displays of power.

North Korea demonstrated ICBM capability on July 4, but additional testing is required. The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency, according to The Washington Post, assesses that the North will be able to field a reliable, nuclear-armed long-range ballistic missile as early as next year, much sooner than analysts initially expected. Some defense analysts, however, disagree with the new assessment.

“There is no question that the DPRK has moved further and faster with its effort to develop a reliable, nuclear-capable ICBM that can be built in quantity, but there are still doubts about whether it can cross that threshold in a year,” an official told Reuters.

North Korea has yet to present a durable re-entry vehicle or a miniaturized nuclear warhead. Expert observers suspect that the North has a re-entry vehicle that could potentially survive the stress of an intercontinental flight, and after five nuclear tests, there is a strong possibility that North Korea has a nuclear bomb small enough to mount on a ballistic missile as they claim. The North may be preparing to show off its capabilities as some still doubt that the July 4 test was one of a true ICBM.

The Hwasong-14 is believed to have a range between 4,500 and 6,000 miles, putting Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of the West Coast within striking distance.

North Korea is in the process of developing a strategic missile force to build a strong deterrent against the U.S. and its allies. North Korea has tested over a dozen missiles this year, launching a collection of brand new short-, medium-, intermediate-, and long-range ballistic missiles, as well as a new and improved surface-to-air missiles and coastal defense cruise missiles. It is unclear how long it will take to field a strategic force, but the North is moving in that direction at an accelerated rate.

North Korea threatened Wednesday to launch a nuclear strike against the U.S. if the latter miscalculates.

“If enemies misunderstand our strategic status and stick to options of staging a pre-emptive nuclear attack against us, we will launch a nuclear attack on America’s heart as the most relentless punishment without warning or prior notice,” North Korean state media stated, repeating phrases uttered repeatedly in recent weeks.

U.S. defense officials suggest that such a move would be suicidal on the part of North Korea.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:59 am

The Real Reason North Korea May Start a War
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-sk … -war-21672

Doug Bandow

July 26, 2017

If you listen to the administration today you would think America was a small, virtually defenseless country threatened by a gaggle of hostile great powers. The latest national-security crisis involves the vast, globe-spanning empire of North Korea. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats declared on NBC that the North “has become a potential existential threat to the United States.” He apparently sees Pyongyang’s armored divisions, aircraft carriers, air wings and nuclear-tipped missiles encircling the beleaguered United States.

In fact, Coats’ claim is astonishing. Last year the United States had a GDP of almost $19 trillion, roughly 650 times the GDP of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The latter is equivalent to the economies of Portland, Maine; Anchorage, Alaska; El Paso, Texas; or Lexington, Kentucky. America’s population is around thirteen times as large as that of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The U.S. military vastly outranges the North’s armed forces—spending upwards of one hundred times as much. America sets the technological standard for the world, while much of North Korea’s materiel is old and decrepit. With the world’s most sophisticated nuclear arsenal and 1411 warheads (the peak was 31,255 about fifty years ago), Washington could incinerate the North in an instant. Pyongyang is thought to possess around twenty nukes of uncertain deliverability.

Who poses an existential threat [3] to whom?

But Coats is not the only Washington official prepared to run screaming from the room when North Korea is mentioned. Last month Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee that the North is the “most urgent and dangerous threat” to world peace and security. The DPRK’s nuclear program “is a clear and present danger [4] to all,” he added.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned the same committee that North Korea’s behavior posed “an increasing threat to the U.S. and our allies.” Indeed, Pyongyang’s development of long-range missiles [5] “is specifically intended to threaten the security of the homeland and our Allies in the Pacific.”

The American people appear to have been listening. A recent CNN poll found that 37 percent of Americans believe the DPRK poses an “immediate” military threat to the United States and 67 percent of them favor sending U.S. troops to defend South Korea.

The irony is that the latter position is largely responsible for the former challenge. If the North poses a threat to America, it is because America first posed a threat to the North.

Of course, there is nothing good to say about the Kim dynasty, now on its third generation. The regime has brutalized North Korea’s population and frightened the DPRK’s neighbors. Most Americans would love to consign Pyongyang’s present rulers to the ash-heap of history.

Unfortunately, North Korean elites know that. After all, the United States intervened to defend the Republic of Korea after the 1950 DPRK invasion and would have liberated the entire peninsula had China not intervened. Gen. Douglas MacArthur then advocated using nuclear weapons, a threat also employed by the incoming Eisenhower administration to encourage conclusion of an armistice.

Once that agreement was reached, the United States forged a mutual defense treaty with the South. During the ensuing years the American government maintained a garrison in South Korea and supplementary units nearby, such as Okinawa. It stationed nuclear weapons on the peninsula, regularly conducted joint military exercises with the South, sent naval forces—including aircraft carriers—off of the North’s coasts and flew strategic bombers over North Korea. It also insisted that “all options were on the table,” meaning military action.

As Washington presumably desired, Pyongyang officials noticed such activities and did not view them as friendly. Of course, North Korea was dangerous, especially when it still possessed the military backing of the People’s Republic of China and Soviet Union. But America’s military measures clearly posed an existential threat to the North Korean regime.

The U.S. danger was exacerbated by the end of the Cold War, when first Moscow and then Beijing opened diplomatic relations with South Korea. While the People’s Republic of China today helps keep the North afloat economically, the former would not back the latter in a war with America. The DPRK is truly alone, against its southern neighbor with vastly greater resources backed by the globe’s sole superpower. That is a lonely position.

It would be serious enough if Washington was simply defending its allies. But the Kim regime has seen the United States promiscuously intervene militarily around the globe. American administrations have used the armed forces to promote regime change in Grenada, Panama, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The government of the latter was so foolish as to trade away its nukes and missiles, leaving it vulnerable to outside intervention. The United States also tried to capture a dominant warlord in Somalia, intervened to prevent secession in Bosnia, dismembered Serbia, and backed the invading Saudis in Yemen.

If there ever was a case of a paranoid state having a real enemy, it is North Korea.

Pyongyang officials point to this reality. Obviously anything said by the DPRK government should be taken with a grain or two of salt, but there is little reason to doubt the concerns they express over potential U.S. military action. When I visited the North last month, North Korean officials dismissed criticism of their nuclear program, pointing to America’s “hostile policy,” which has been highlighted by “military threats” and “nuclear threats,” the latter, in their view, dating back to the 1950s.

No doubt one purpose of the DPRK’s nuclear weapons is to defend against such “threats.” Nukes have other uses as well, of course, such as enhancing Pyongyang’s international stature, cementing the military’s loyalty to the regime, and creating opportunities for neighborly extortion. But long-range missiles have only one use: deterring U.S. military intervention against the DPRK.

For all of the talk of North Korea threatening [6] “the world,” Pyongyang has never shown much interest in “the world.” The Kims have spent little time threatening to incinerate Russia, Europe, Africa, South America, Canada, the Middle East or South Asia. The North always has focused on South Korea, Japan and the superpower looming behind them, America.

The Kims’ ever-truculent rhetoric reflects weakness, not strength. They always wanted their virgins in this world, not the next; none of them would intentionally launch a suicidal attack for the fun of it. The DPRK wants to avoid—not wage—war with America.

If the United States was not “over there,” the North’s safest course would be to ignore Washington. Creating weapons capable of targeting America would inevitably gain U.S. attention, creating the sort of hysteria that today seems to have swept Washington and beyond. For instance, Hawaii is discussing civil-defense measures against a possible North Korean nuclear attack. But with America already involved and threatening war, Pyongyang’s only sure defense is deterrence, which means holding at least a few U.S. cities hostage.

Naturally, the denizens of Washington cannot imagine a world in which they do not dominate and in which they cannot act with impunity. But the North is moving to do what no other potential adversary other than China and Russia has done, foreclose U.S. military action. Once the Kim regime has a reasonable chance of turning at least a couple of major American cities into “lakes of fire,” would the United States maintain its so-called nuclear umbrella, risking Los Angeles for Seoul? Should conventional war break out, would the United States dare to march north as victory beckoned to oust Kim and company? Would Washington even risk intervening in a conventional conflict, since the overmatched DPRK would feel pressure to use or lose its limited nuclear capabilities?

Coats is worried about the looming existential threat from the North, but it is best understood as a response to Washington’s casual and constant threat to bomb Pyongyang whenever the United States sees fit. The Kim regime may be hostile, but it doesn’t want war. Rather, it wants to ensure that America does not start a conflict with the DPRK.

The best response would be for Washington to back away from a war it need not fight. South Korea long has had the resources necessary for its own conventional defense. While its advantages are not quite as great as America’s—merely 40–1 on economics and 2–1 on population—the Republic of Korea’s failure to protect itself demonstrates how the Pentagon today has become an agency of international welfare.

And with rising interest in the South about building an independent nuclear capability, Washington should consider the advantages of folding up its nuclear umbrella as well, so the city at risk in defending Seoul is, well, Seoul, rather than Los Angeles or any other American metropolis. Nonproliferation has value, but the safety of America’s homeland is more important.

Does North Korea threaten America? Only because the United States has been next door for nearly seven decades, preparing for war against the North. U.S. policy in Northeast Asia should change to protect America above all.

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World [7] and coauthor of The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relations with North and South Korea [8].

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:47 am

The Real Reason North Korea May Start a War
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-sk … -war-21672

Doug Bandow

July 26, 2017

If you listen to the administration today you would think America was a small, virtually defenseless country threatened by a gaggle of hostile great powers. The latest national-security crisis involves the vast, globe-spanning empire of North Korea. Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats declared on NBC that the North “has become a potential existential threat to the United States.” He apparently sees Pyongyang’s armored divisions, aircraft carriers, air wings and nuclear-tipped missiles encircling the beleaguered United States.

In fact, Coats’ claim is astonishing. Last year the United States had a GDP of almost $19 trillion, roughly 650 times the GDP of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The latter is equivalent to the economies of Portland, Maine; Anchorage, Alaska; El Paso, Texas; or Lexington, Kentucky. America’s population is around thirteen times as large as that of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The U.S. military vastly outranges the North’s armed forces—spending upwards of one hundred times as much. America sets the technological standard for the world, while much of North Korea’s materiel is old and decrepit. With the world’s most sophisticated nuclear arsenal and 1411 warheads (the peak was 31,255 about fifty years ago), Washington could incinerate the North in an instant. Pyongyang is thought to possess around twenty nukes of uncertain deliverability.

Who poses an existential threat [3] to whom?

But Coats is not the only Washington official prepared to run screaming from the room when North Korea is mentioned. Last month Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee that the North is the “most urgent and dangerous threat” to world peace and security. The DPRK’s nuclear program “is a clear and present danger [4] to all,” he added.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned the same committee that North Korea’s behavior posed “an increasing threat to the U.S. and our allies.” Indeed, Pyongyang’s development of long-range missiles [5] “is specifically intended to threaten the security of the homeland and our Allies in the Pacific.”

The American people appear to have been listening. A recent CNN poll found that 37 percent of Americans believe the DPRK poses an “immediate” military threat to the United States and 67 percent of them favor sending U.S. troops to defend South Korea.

The irony is that the latter position is largely responsible for the former challenge. If the North poses a threat to America, it is because America first posed a threat to the North.

Of course, there is nothing good to say about the Kim dynasty, now on its third generation. The regime has brutalized North Korea’s population and frightened the DPRK’s neighbors. Most Americans would love to consign Pyongyang’s present rulers to the ash-heap of history.

Unfortunately, North Korean elites know that. After all, the United States intervened to defend the Republic of Korea after the 1950 DPRK invasion and would have liberated the entire peninsula had China not intervened. Gen. Douglas MacArthur then advocated using nuclear weapons, a threat also employed by the incoming Eisenhower administration to encourage conclusion of an armistice.

Once that agreement was reached, the United States forged a mutual defense treaty with the South. During the ensuing years the American government maintained a garrison in South Korea and supplementary units nearby, such as Okinawa. It stationed nuclear weapons on the peninsula, regularly conducted joint military exercises with the South, sent naval forces—including aircraft carriers—off of the North’s coasts and flew strategic bombers over North Korea. It also insisted that “all options were on the table,” meaning military action.

As Washington presumably desired, Pyongyang officials noticed such activities and did not view them as friendly. Of course, North Korea was dangerous, especially when it still possessed the military backing of the People’s Republic of China and Soviet Union. But America’s military measures clearly posed an existential threat to the North Korean regime.

The U.S. danger was exacerbated by the end of the Cold War, when first Moscow and then Beijing opened diplomatic relations with South Korea. While the People’s Republic of China today helps keep the North afloat economically, the former would not back the latter in a war with America. The DPRK is truly alone, against its southern neighbor with vastly greater resources backed by the globe’s sole superpower. That is a lonely position.

It would be serious enough if Washington was simply defending its allies. But the Kim regime has seen the United States promiscuously intervene militarily around the globe. American administrations have used the armed forces to promote regime change in Grenada, Panama, Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The government of the latter was so foolish as to trade away its nukes and missiles, leaving it vulnerable to outside intervention. The United States also tried to capture a dominant warlord in Somalia, intervened to prevent secession in Bosnia, dismembered Serbia, and backed the invading Saudis in Yemen.

If there ever was a case of a paranoid state having a real enemy, it is North Korea.

Pyongyang officials point to this reality. Obviously anything said by the DPRK government should be taken with a grain or two of salt, but there is little reason to doubt the concerns they express over potential U.S. military action. When I visited the North last month, North Korean officials dismissed criticism of their nuclear program, pointing to America’s “hostile policy,” which has been highlighted by “military threats” and “nuclear threats,” the latter, in their view, dating back to the 1950s.

No doubt one purpose of the DPRK’s nuclear weapons is to defend against such “threats.” Nukes have other uses as well, of course, such as enhancing Pyongyang’s international stature, cementing the military’s loyalty to the regime, and creating opportunities for neighborly extortion. But long-range missiles have only one use: deterring U.S. military intervention against the DPRK.

For all of the talk of North Korea threatening [6] “the world,” Pyongyang has never shown much interest in “the world.” The Kims have spent little time threatening to incinerate Russia, Europe, Africa, South America, Canada, the Middle East or South Asia. The North always has focused on South Korea, Japan and the superpower looming behind them, America.

The Kims’ ever-truculent rhetoric reflects weakness, not strength. They always wanted their virgins in this world, not the next; none of them would intentionally launch a suicidal attack for the fun of it. The DPRK wants to avoid—not wage—war with America.

If the United States was not “over there,” the North’s safest course would be to ignore Washington. Creating weapons capable of targeting America would inevitably gain U.S. attention, creating the sort of hysteria that today seems to have swept Washington and beyond. For instance, Hawaii is discussing civil-defense measures against a possible North Korean nuclear attack. But with America already involved and threatening war, Pyongyang’s only sure defense is deterrence, which means holding at least a few U.S. cities hostage.

Naturally, the denizens of Washington cannot imagine a world in which they do not dominate and in which they cannot act with impunity. But the North is moving to do what no other potential adversary other than China and Russia has done, foreclose U.S. military action. Once the Kim regime has a reasonable chance of turning at least a couple of major American cities into “lakes of fire,” would the United States maintain its so-called nuclear umbrella, risking Los Angeles for Seoul? Should conventional war break out, would the United States dare to march north as victory beckoned to oust Kim and company? Would Washington even risk intervening in a conventional conflict, since the overmatched DPRK would feel pressure to use or lose its limited nuclear capabilities?

Coats is worried about the looming existential threat from the North, but it is best understood as a response to Washington’s casual and constant threat to bomb Pyongyang whenever the United States sees fit. The Kim regime may be hostile, but it doesn’t want war. Rather, it wants to ensure that America does not start a conflict with the DPRK.

The best response would be for Washington to back away from a war it need not fight. South Korea long has had the resources necessary for its own conventional defense. While its advantages are not quite as great as America’s—merely 40–1 on economics and 2–1 on population—the Republic of Korea’s failure to protect itself demonstrates how the Pentagon today has become an agency of international welfare.

And with rising interest in the South about building an independent nuclear capability, Washington should consider the advantages of folding up its nuclear umbrella as well, so the city at risk in defending Seoul is, well, Seoul, rather than Los Angeles or any other American metropolis. Nonproliferation has value, but the safety of America’s homeland is more important.

Does North Korea threaten America? Only because the United States has been next door for nearly seven decades, preparing for war against the North. U.S. policy in Northeast Asia should change to protect America above all.

Doug Bandow is a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and a former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World [7] and coauthor of The Korean Conundrum: America’s Troubled Relations with North and South Korea [8].

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:47 am

Pentagon: North Korea’s missile capability far ahead of schedule
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News … m_medium=1

July 26, 2017 at 7:59 AM

July 26 (UPI) — North Korea may have a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile by next year — about two years ahead of schedule, a new assessment by the Pentagon says.

An analysis by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency accelerates the timeline of Pyongyang’s missile capabilities. It says that intercontinental ballistic missiles — capable of carrying nuclear warheads — could be ready by 2018.

The report’s predictions, similar to those by South Korean intelligence officials, increase pressure on U.S. and Asian leaders to stop Pyongyang’s missile progress.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said North Korea would be confronted “very strongly” to stop its missile developments.

The DIA projections follow a series of missile-related tests by the North Korean government. A North Korean rocket, tested July 4, is believed to be capable of reaching most of Alaska and hitting targets deeper into North America.

An official from the office of the Director of National Intelligence told CBS News recently that the July 4 launch was “one of the milestones that we have expected would help refine our timeline and judgments on the threats that [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un poses to the continental United States.”

It remains unclear if North Korea currently has a missile capable of withstanding re-entry — that is, a missile that can pass through the upper atmosphere without damaging its warhead. Such a weapon is regarded by some experts a daunting technological barrier, but U.S. analysts said the achievement could be reached with new tests that are expected within days.

The United States also believes that North Korea is making preparations to test a new re-entry vehicle, which could happen as soon as Thursday, a North Korean national holiday.

Tuesday, Pyongyang lobbed a threat at the United States and promised to unleash a “merciless” attack with a “nuclear hammer” if Washington tried to remove Kim from power.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:41 am

Pentagon: North Korea’s missile capability far ahead of schedule
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News … m_medium=1

July 26, 2017 at 7:59 AM

July 26 (UPI) — North Korea may have a reliable intercontinental ballistic missile by next year — about two years ahead of schedule, a new assessment by the Pentagon says.

An analysis by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency accelerates the timeline of Pyongyang’s missile capabilities. It says that intercontinental ballistic missiles — capable of carrying nuclear warheads — could be ready by 2018.

The report’s predictions, similar to those by South Korean intelligence officials, increase pressure on U.S. and Asian leaders to stop Pyongyang’s missile progress.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump said North Korea would be confronted “very strongly” to stop its missile developments.

The DIA projections follow a series of missile-related tests by the North Korean government. A North Korean rocket, tested July 4, is believed to be capable of reaching most of Alaska and hitting targets deeper into North America.

An official from the office of the Director of National Intelligence told CBS News recently that the July 4 launch was “one of the milestones that we have expected would help refine our timeline and judgments on the threats that [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un poses to the continental United States.”

It remains unclear if North Korea currently has a missile capable of withstanding re-entry — that is, a missile that can pass through the upper atmosphere without damaging its warhead. Such a weapon is regarded by some experts a daunting technological barrier, but U.S. analysts said the achievement could be reached with new tests that are expected within days.

The United States also believes that North Korea is making preparations to test a new re-entry vehicle, which could happen as soon as Thursday, a North Korean national holiday.

Tuesday, Pyongyang lobbed a threat at the United States and promised to unleash a “merciless” attack with a “nuclear hammer” if Washington tried to remove Kim from power.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:41 am

North Korea’s leader is ‘not a nutcase,’ he’s smart, says ex-US ambassador to China
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/26/north-ko … china.html

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is “not a nutcase,” and likely won’t start a war, former Sen. Max Baucus told CNBC on Wednesday.

“People say he’s a nut case. He’s not. He’s very calculating. He’s very smart. He’s playing all this very, very well. He’s not going to push the button because then he’s gone,” the Montana Democrat said on “Squawk Box.”

“There’s not going to be a war. There can’t be a war,” he added.

Baucus was U.S. ambassador to China under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017.

The former senator spoke as tensions between the United States and North Korea have escalated after the latter test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4. ICBMs have a minimum range of around 5,500 kilometers, or about 3,400 miles, and are capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

The U.S. and China said Tuesday they are making progress on a new U.N. resolution that would impose additional sanctions against North Korea after the missile test.

On Tuesday, North Korea also vowed to “strike a merciless blow at the heart of the U.S.,” amid a report the regime was prepping for a new missile test. South Korea is reportedly looking to increase its ballistic missile firepower to a 1-ton conventional warhead.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:38 am

North Korea’s leader is ‘not a nutcase,’ he’s smart, says ex-US ambassador to China
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/26/north-ko … china.html

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is “not a nutcase,” and likely won’t start a war, former Sen. Max Baucus told CNBC on Wednesday.

“People say he’s a nut case. He’s not. He’s very calculating. He’s very smart. He’s playing all this very, very well. He’s not going to push the button because then he’s gone,” the Montana Democrat said on “Squawk Box.”

“There’s not going to be a war. There can’t be a war,” he added.

Baucus was U.S. ambassador to China under President Barack Obama from 2014 to 2017.

The former senator spoke as tensions between the United States and North Korea have escalated after the latter test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on July 4. ICBMs have a minimum range of around 5,500 kilometers, or about 3,400 miles, and are capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

The U.S. and China said Tuesday they are making progress on a new U.N. resolution that would impose additional sanctions against North Korea after the missile test.

On Tuesday, North Korea also vowed to “strike a merciless blow at the heart of the U.S.,” amid a report the regime was prepping for a new missile test. South Korea is reportedly looking to increase its ballistic missile firepower to a 1-ton conventional warhead.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Wed Jul 26, 2017 10:38 am

All this rhetoric boils down to one thing for me, my son and family.

Thank God, DIL and grandson arrived in Seattle, Washington, she is visiting her sister and family and
will arrive in Indiana to stay with us on the 31st till our son gets reassigned in January. Of course
I am worried sick about him still being there, but at least we have 2 out. I am, of course, most
worried about him now, but I feel for all the soldiers, civilians, and everyone that may be in harms
way soon, due to some egomaniac nut case. I wish trump had not withdrawn from the TPP, he could,
though I doubt it, have had some moderating influence on the dictator working with allies there.

Son is due out of there in Dec or January, I fear it won’t all hold together till then. It’s ironic he is
a civilian and all his years in the military he was never deployed to a war zone. Now of course I’m
concerned they can’t get a replacement and will consider him essential personnel.

The 3 of them have all been sick with grandson in the hospital twice this year and on antibiotics
way to long. I read in that WSJ article where Kim also has biological weapons, wonder if they
have been spreading stuff. Son said whatever it was, was going around. He has been sick too.
I have them both scheduled for thorough medical checkups the next week after they get here.
We are hoping the change from the horrible polluted air to here will help them both.

I fear from all the reports I’m reading this is rapidly escalating. It showed a map in the WSJ
with all the nuclear sites, they are all over N Korea. Looks like another war and I’m not sure we
can win this time if we have to fight China too, we let them take over everything. We have let
all our manufacturing go to become paper pushers.

Statistics: Posted by PatrioticStabilist — Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:26 pm

All this rhetoric boils down to one thing for me, my son and family.

Thank God, DIL and grandson arrived in Seattle, Washington, she is visiting her sister and family and
will arrive in Indiana to stay with us on the 31st till our son gets reassigned in January. Of course
I am worried sick about him still being there, but at least we have 2 out. I am, of course, most
worried about him now, but I feel for all the soldiers, civilians, and everyone that may be in harms
way soon, due to some egomaniac nut case. I wish trump had not withdrawn from the TPP, he could,
though I doubt it, have had some moderating influence on the dictator working with allies there.

Son is due out of there in Dec or January, I fear it won’t all hold together till then. It’s ironic he is
a civilian and all his years in the military he was never deployed to a war zone. Now of course I’m
concerned they can’t get a replacement and will consider him essential personnel.

The 3 of them have all been sick with grandson in the hospital twice this year and on antibiotics
way to long. I read in that WSJ article where Kim also has biological weapons, wonder if they
have been spreading stuff. Son said whatever it was, was going around. He has been sick too.
I have them both scheduled for thorough medical checkups the next week after they get here.
We are hoping the change from the horrible polluted air to here will help them both.

I fear from all the reports I’m reading this is rapidly escalating. It showed a map in the WSJ
with all the nuclear sites, they are all over N Korea. Looks like another war and I’m not sure we
can win this time if we have to fight China too, we let them take over everything. We have let
all our manufacturing go to become paper pushers.

Statistics: Posted by PatrioticStabilist — Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:26 pm

All this rhetoric boils down to one thing for me, my son and family.

Thank God, DIL and grandson arrived in Seattle, Washington, she is visiting her sister and family and
will arrive in Indiana to stay with us on the 31st till our son gets reassigned in January. Of course
I am worried sick about him still being there, but at least we have 2 out. I am, of course, most
worried about him now, but I feel for all the soldiers, civilians, and everyone that may be in harms
way soon, due to some egomaniac nut case. I wish trump had not withdrawn from the TPP, he could,
though I doubt it, have had some moderating influence on the dictator working with allies there.

Son is due out of there in Dec or January, I fear it won’t all hold together till then. It’s ironic he is
a civilian and all his years in the military he was never deployed to a war zone. Now of course I’m
concerned they can’t get a replacement and will consider him essential personnel.

The 3 of them have all been sick with grandson in the hospital twice this year and on antibiotics
way to long. I read in that WSJ article where Kim also has biological weapons, wonder if they
have been spreading stuff. Son said whatever it was, was going around. He has been sick too.
I have them both scheduled for thorough medical checkups the next week after they get here.
We are hoping the change from the horrible polluted air to here will help them both.

I fear from all the reports I’m reading this is rapidly escalating. It showed a map in the WSJ
with all the nuclear sites, they are all over N Korea. Looks like another war and I’m not sure we
can win this time if we have to fight China too, we let them take over everything. We have let
all our manufacturing go to become paper pushers.

Statistics: Posted by PatrioticStabilist — Tue Jul 25, 2017 10:26 pm

North Korea may test another missile, as US official says diplomacy may have ‘a few more months’
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/07/25 … onths.html

Published July 25, 2017

As despot Kim Jong Un prepares Pyongyang to flout international pressure with yet another intercontinental ballistic missile test, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has hinted there may be only “a few more months” left to solve the North Korean dilemma via diplomacy.

U.S. officials have told Fox News there has been activity in North Korea in recent days – including moving a variety of gear – at a launch site where Pyongyang previously test-fired its intercontinental ballistic missile, known as the KN-20, on July 4.

The rogue regime’s test may come as soon as Thursday – which marks 64 years since the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which established the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, and put a cease-fire into effect.

The missile tested earlier this month flew more than 1,700 miles into space before a re-entry vehicle sped back to Earth, splashing down in the Sea of Japan.

Last week, North Korea performed an “ejector” test from a ballistic missile submarine below the sea — the first stage necessary to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile while submerged. North Korea first test-launched a missile from a submarine in April 2016.

The latest possible escalation comes as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford said Americans must prepare for the possibility of a military confrontation and suggested the Trump administration is giving diplomacy only “a few more months.”

While speaking Saturday at the Aspen Security Forum, Dunford described North Korea’s nuclear ambitions as “our number one challenge” from a “sense of urgency” perspective.

“Many people have talked about military options [against North Korea] with words like ‘unimaginable,’” Dunford said. “I would shift that slightly to ‘horrific.’ It would be a loss of life unlike any we have experienced in our lifetimes. Anyone who has been alive since World War II has never seen the loss of life that could occur if there is a conflict on the Korean peninsula.”

He added: “It is not unimaginable to have military options on the Korean peninsula. What is unimaginable to me is allowing a nuclear weapon to land in Denver, Colorado. My job will be to develop military options to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

While Dunford said the best approach to dealing with North Korea is through the diplomatic and economic realms that are the forte of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he pointed out Kim Jong Un’s grip on power is “inextricably linked to nuclear weapons.”

“So, I think for all of us, we should give Secretary Tillerson full support in attempting to resolve this diplomatically and economically, even as we recognize that it may not happen, and there may have to be a follow-up option, which is the military option,” Dunford said. “We can wring our hands and say it will never happen, or we can roll up our sleeves and make an effort to have a concerted economic and diplomatic plan that does cause KJU, Kim Jong Un, to come to the table and begin to have a conversation, at least stop the path that he’s on right now, which is further development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear capability. And to me it makes all the sense in the world to prove the theory of the case and to work this for a few more months.”

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported the Chinese military has been building up defenses along its border with North Korea, citing a review of official military and government websites and interviews with experts.

The paper reported that Beijing has built bunkers to protect against nuclear blasts, established a new border brigade and is engaging in 24-hour surveillance of the mountainous frontier. The preparations are intended to respond to worst-case scenarios, like an economic collapse, nuclear contamination or a conflict, experts told The Journal.

The Chinese government has not spoken out about the report of preparations. An official from its defense ministry said in a statement that the forces “maintain a normal state of combat readiness and training.”

“Military means shouldn’t be an option to solve the Korean Peninsula issue,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Mark Cozad, who works at the Rand Corp think tank, told The Journal these preparations “go well beyond” creating a buffer zone at the border, however.
0704 nk4 Expand / Collapse

An ICBM is seen lifting off during a test launch in July. (Reuters)

“If you’re going to make me place bets on where I think the U.S. and China would first get into a conflict, it’s not Taiwan, the South China Sea or the East China Sea: I think it’s the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:27 pm

North Korea may test another missile, as US official says diplomacy may have ‘a few more months’
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/07/25 … onths.html

Published July 25, 2017

As despot Kim Jong Un prepares Pyongyang to flout international pressure with yet another intercontinental ballistic missile test, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has hinted there may be only “a few more months” left to solve the North Korean dilemma via diplomacy.

U.S. officials have told Fox News there has been activity in North Korea in recent days – including moving a variety of gear – at a launch site where Pyongyang previously test-fired its intercontinental ballistic missile, known as the KN-20, on July 4.

The rogue regime’s test may come as soon as Thursday – which marks 64 years since the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement, which established the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea, and put a cease-fire into effect.

The missile tested earlier this month flew more than 1,700 miles into space before a re-entry vehicle sped back to Earth, splashing down in the Sea of Japan.

Last week, North Korea performed an “ejector” test from a ballistic missile submarine below the sea — the first stage necessary to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile while submerged. North Korea first test-launched a missile from a submarine in April 2016.

The latest possible escalation comes as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford said Americans must prepare for the possibility of a military confrontation and suggested the Trump administration is giving diplomacy only “a few more months.”

While speaking Saturday at the Aspen Security Forum, Dunford described North Korea’s nuclear ambitions as “our number one challenge” from a “sense of urgency” perspective.

“Many people have talked about military options [against North Korea] with words like ‘unimaginable,’” Dunford said. “I would shift that slightly to ‘horrific.’ It would be a loss of life unlike any we have experienced in our lifetimes. Anyone who has been alive since World War II has never seen the loss of life that could occur if there is a conflict on the Korean peninsula.”

He added: “It is not unimaginable to have military options on the Korean peninsula. What is unimaginable to me is allowing a nuclear weapon to land in Denver, Colorado. My job will be to develop military options to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

While Dunford said the best approach to dealing with North Korea is through the diplomatic and economic realms that are the forte of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he pointed out Kim Jong Un’s grip on power is “inextricably linked to nuclear weapons.”

“So, I think for all of us, we should give Secretary Tillerson full support in attempting to resolve this diplomatically and economically, even as we recognize that it may not happen, and there may have to be a follow-up option, which is the military option,” Dunford said. “We can wring our hands and say it will never happen, or we can roll up our sleeves and make an effort to have a concerted economic and diplomatic plan that does cause KJU, Kim Jong Un, to come to the table and begin to have a conversation, at least stop the path that he’s on right now, which is further development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear capability. And to me it makes all the sense in the world to prove the theory of the case and to work this for a few more months.”

On Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal reported the Chinese military has been building up defenses along its border with North Korea, citing a review of official military and government websites and interviews with experts.

The paper reported that Beijing has built bunkers to protect against nuclear blasts, established a new border brigade and is engaging in 24-hour surveillance of the mountainous frontier. The preparations are intended to respond to worst-case scenarios, like an economic collapse, nuclear contamination or a conflict, experts told The Journal.

The Chinese government has not spoken out about the report of preparations. An official from its defense ministry said in a statement that the forces “maintain a normal state of combat readiness and training.”

“Military means shouldn’t be an option to solve the Korean Peninsula issue,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Mark Cozad, who works at the Rand Corp think tank, told The Journal these preparations “go well beyond” creating a buffer zone at the border, however.
0704 nk4 Expand / Collapse

An ICBM is seen lifting off during a test launch in July. (Reuters)

“If you’re going to make me place bets on where I think the U.S. and China would first get into a conflict, it’s not Taiwan, the South China Sea or the East China Sea: I think it’s the Korean Peninsula,” he said.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:27 pm

-Sigh- …. here we go again. 3 -2-1 … possible new launch coming.

North Korea preparing for another missile test: US defense official
http://www.news.com.au/world/north-kore … ba48584b84

July 25, 2017 (Go to Link for interesting video)

NORTH Korea appears to be preparing for another missile test, according to a US Defense official.

According to CNN, the official said transporter vehicles carrying ballistic missile launching equipment were seen arriving in Kusong, North Korea on Friday.

When such equipment is seen it means a launch could occur within six days, the official said. This could coincide with the July 27 North Korean Holiday, which celebrates the armistice that ended the North Korean war.

It’s understood the rogue nation may be preparing for another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or intermediate range missile test.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed the country had successfully tested its first ICBM last month. US officials also confirmed the ballistic missile flew longer than any North Korean missile test conducted by the rogue regime to date. The rocket landed in the Sea of Japan.

The ICBM flew for 37 minutes and reached a height of 2414km, leading missile experts to conclude it could have reached a target 6437km away, putting the US state of Alaska in its crosshairs.

“The threat is much more immediate now,” National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters prior to the launch. “So it’s clear we can’t repeat the same failed approach of the past.”

He added: “So the President has directed us not to do that, and to prepare a range of options — including a military option, which nobody wants to take, right?”

Vice Adm. James Syring, the director of the Missile Defence Agency, previously said, if it didn’t already exist, it would only be a matter of time until North Korea was able to attack the US.

“We have to assume that the capability exists today to attack the United States,” he said.

US President Donald Trump mocked the North Korean leader following the latest launch, asking: “Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?”

He also suggested America’s allies in the region — Japan and South Korea — will put pressure on the North Korean regime to rein in its nuclear ambitions.

“Hard to believe that South Korea….. and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”

US TO TEST ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM IN ALASKA

Meanwhile, the US military is preparing to conduct another test of a missile-intercept system in Alaska, the Pentagon said Monday, amid continued tensions with North Korea over its ballistic missile program.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said a routine test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system had been scheduled to go ahead “soon.” “These tests are done as a routine measure to make sure that the system is ready,” he said.

“They are scheduled well in advance of any other real world geopolitical events going on.” A notice to mariners put out by the US Coast Guard said the test could occur as soon as Saturday.

THAAD is designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.

THAAD is not designed to stop an ICBM — that job is left primarily to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor system.

Missile Defense Agency Director Lieutenant General Sam Greaves said in a statement the test would occur at the Pacific Spaceport Complex, Alaska.

“Due to the need to safeguard critical defense information, the (Defense) Department will not provide test details in advance beyond the required safety notifications,” he said.

The military earlier this month successfully tested THAAD against an intermediate-range target, the first successful trial against that type of missile.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:24 pm

-Sigh- …. here we go again. 3 -2-1 … possible new launch coming.

North Korea preparing for another missile test: US defense official
http://www.news.com.au/world/north-kore … ba48584b84

July 25, 2017 (Go to Link for interesting video)

NORTH Korea appears to be preparing for another missile test, according to a US Defense official.

According to CNN, the official said transporter vehicles carrying ballistic missile launching equipment were seen arriving in Kusong, North Korea on Friday.

When such equipment is seen it means a launch could occur within six days, the official said. This could coincide with the July 27 North Korean Holiday, which celebrates the armistice that ended the North Korean war.

It’s understood the rogue nation may be preparing for another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) or intermediate range missile test.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed the country had successfully tested its first ICBM last month. US officials also confirmed the ballistic missile flew longer than any North Korean missile test conducted by the rogue regime to date. The rocket landed in the Sea of Japan.

The ICBM flew for 37 minutes and reached a height of 2414km, leading missile experts to conclude it could have reached a target 6437km away, putting the US state of Alaska in its crosshairs.

“The threat is much more immediate now,” National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster told reporters prior to the launch. “So it’s clear we can’t repeat the same failed approach of the past.”

He added: “So the President has directed us not to do that, and to prepare a range of options — including a military option, which nobody wants to take, right?”

Vice Adm. James Syring, the director of the Missile Defence Agency, previously said, if it didn’t already exist, it would only be a matter of time until North Korea was able to attack the US.

“We have to assume that the capability exists today to attack the United States,” he said.

US President Donald Trump mocked the North Korean leader following the latest launch, asking: “Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?”

He also suggested America’s allies in the region — Japan and South Korea — will put pressure on the North Korean regime to rein in its nuclear ambitions.

“Hard to believe that South Korea….. and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”

US TO TEST ANTI-MISSILE SYSTEM IN ALASKA

Meanwhile, the US military is preparing to conduct another test of a missile-intercept system in Alaska, the Pentagon said Monday, amid continued tensions with North Korea over its ballistic missile program.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said a routine test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system had been scheduled to go ahead “soon.” “These tests are done as a routine measure to make sure that the system is ready,” he said.

“They are scheduled well in advance of any other real world geopolitical events going on.” A notice to mariners put out by the US Coast Guard said the test could occur as soon as Saturday.

THAAD is designed to intercept and destroy short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles during their final phase of flight.

THAAD is not designed to stop an ICBM — that job is left primarily to the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) interceptor system.

Missile Defense Agency Director Lieutenant General Sam Greaves said in a statement the test would occur at the Pacific Spaceport Complex, Alaska.

“Due to the need to safeguard critical defense information, the (Defense) Department will not provide test details in advance beyond the required safety notifications,” he said.

The military earlier this month successfully tested THAAD against an intermediate-range target, the first successful trial against that type of missile.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:24 pm

North Korea threatens nuclear attack after claiming Trump CIA director ‘shakes little fists’ at regime
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/07/25 … egime.html

Published July 25, 2017

North Korea will launch a “powerful nuclear hammer” at the “heart” of the United States if President Trump attempts a regime change in Pyongyang, North Korea’s state news agency warned Tuesday.

The statement comes amid heightening tension between the two nations, including a recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch showing the rogue state has the capacity to deliver a nuclear warhead as far as Alaska – as well as shows of force by the US Air Force and Navy, and recent comments by CIA Director Mike Pompeo at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado last week.

Although Pompeo did not explicitly state that regime change is on the table, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) stated that his remarks “have gone over the line, and it has now become clear that the ultimate aim of the Trump Administration … is the regime change.”

Therefore, the North Korean news agency warned that even “the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership” will lead to a “merciless blow” with its “powerful nuclear hammer.”

Pompeo, however, barely alluded to regime change in an interview where he focused on the importance of “separating” the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from his burgeoning nuclear arsenal.

“These weapons systems still need development and testing,” said Pompeo, “to the extent we can convince China it’s in its best interest to help us convince Kim it’s not in his best interest to move down that path. There are lots of ways to narrow the (nuclear) capacity band.”

Pompeo said the subject of North Korea comes up in almost every meeting he has with Trump. And he said the CIA is working on a “wide range of options” to deal with the threat, and “those answers will be delivered almost certainly alongside our partners at the Department of Defense.”

“There are things we can do to keep the (nuclear) capability out of Kim’s hands,” Pompeo said before addressing a direct question about regime change. “As for the regime, I’m hopeful we will find a way to separate that regime from this system.”

The North Korean news agency said those remarks demonstrate Pompeo’s “illiteracy” about North Korea and “an explicit illustration of incompetence of the U.S. intelligence community.” It then went on to threaten Pompeo directly, saying he will “bitterly experience catastrophic and miserable consequences” by daring to shake his “little fists” at the Kim regime.

If its “supreme dignity” is threatened, North Korea “must preemptively annihilate those countries and entities that are directly or indirectly involved in it by mobilizing all kinds of strike means including the nuclear ones,” according to the KCNA.

Pompeo actually argued in Aspen that he believes that Kim understands his “core mission” is to keep himself in power. Thus, Kim has taken what Pompeo believes are “rational” responses to the uptick in threat posture from the U.S. military such as reaching out for help from South Korea’s new president to “get us to back off and stop pressing just as hard as he is.”

“You can certainly characterize that as a rational response to the threat he perceives from the U.S. and our allies,” said Pompeo, “Kim is certainly capable of responding to things that are in his regime’s best interest.”

Asked for comment, a CIA spokesperson said, “We
will let the Director’s words stand without additional comment.”

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:18 pm

North Korea threatens nuclear attack after claiming Trump CIA director ‘shakes little fists’ at regime
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/07/25 … egime.html

Published July 25, 2017

North Korea will launch a “powerful nuclear hammer” at the “heart” of the United States if President Trump attempts a regime change in Pyongyang, North Korea’s state news agency warned Tuesday.

The statement comes amid heightening tension between the two nations, including a recent intercontinental ballistic missile launch showing the rogue state has the capacity to deliver a nuclear warhead as far as Alaska – as well as shows of force by the US Air Force and Navy, and recent comments by CIA Director Mike Pompeo at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado last week.

Although Pompeo did not explicitly state that regime change is on the table, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) stated that his remarks “have gone over the line, and it has now become clear that the ultimate aim of the Trump Administration … is the regime change.”

Therefore, the North Korean news agency warned that even “the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership” will lead to a “merciless blow” with its “powerful nuclear hammer.”

Pompeo, however, barely alluded to regime change in an interview where he focused on the importance of “separating” the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from his burgeoning nuclear arsenal.

“These weapons systems still need development and testing,” said Pompeo, “to the extent we can convince China it’s in its best interest to help us convince Kim it’s not in his best interest to move down that path. There are lots of ways to narrow the (nuclear) capacity band.”

Pompeo said the subject of North Korea comes up in almost every meeting he has with Trump. And he said the CIA is working on a “wide range of options” to deal with the threat, and “those answers will be delivered almost certainly alongside our partners at the Department of Defense.”

“There are things we can do to keep the (nuclear) capability out of Kim’s hands,” Pompeo said before addressing a direct question about regime change. “As for the regime, I’m hopeful we will find a way to separate that regime from this system.”

The North Korean news agency said those remarks demonstrate Pompeo’s “illiteracy” about North Korea and “an explicit illustration of incompetence of the U.S. intelligence community.” It then went on to threaten Pompeo directly, saying he will “bitterly experience catastrophic and miserable consequences” by daring to shake his “little fists” at the Kim regime.

If its “supreme dignity” is threatened, North Korea “must preemptively annihilate those countries and entities that are directly or indirectly involved in it by mobilizing all kinds of strike means including the nuclear ones,” according to the KCNA.

Pompeo actually argued in Aspen that he believes that Kim understands his “core mission” is to keep himself in power. Thus, Kim has taken what Pompeo believes are “rational” responses to the uptick in threat posture from the U.S. military such as reaching out for help from South Korea’s new president to “get us to back off and stop pressing just as hard as he is.”

“You can certainly characterize that as a rational response to the threat he perceives from the U.S. and our allies,” said Pompeo, “Kim is certainly capable of responding to things that are in his regime’s best interest.”

Asked for comment, a CIA spokesperson said, “We
will let the Director’s words stand without additional comment.”

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:18 pm

North Korea Threatens to Strike U.S. With ‘Powerful Nuclear Hammer’
http://www.newsweek.com/north-korea-thr … and-641482

7/25/17

The North Korean regime has responded to CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s comments on regime change in Pyongyang.

A foreign ministry spokesman was quoted in the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) threatening a nuclear strike to “the heart of the U.S.” should the American secret service attempt to remove Kim Jong Un from power.

“Should the U.S. dare to show even the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership, we will strike a merciless blow at the heart of the U.S. with our powerful nuclear hammer, honed and hardened over time,” the spokesman said, as the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado last Thursday, Pompeo called Kim Jong Un’s leadership the “most dangerous” element to the North Korean threat. While Pompeo avoided explicitly declaring Washington’s view over regime change, he hinted that the administration was looking into “separate capacity and someone who might well have intent and break those two apart”, before adding that “the North Korea people — I’m sure are lovely people — and would love to see him go as well.”

The fiery response from North Korea comes amid rumors of a new nuclear test scheduled for this week. According to a U.S. defense official quoted by CNN, ballistic missile launching equipment was detected arriving in Kusong, North Korea, last Friday. Kusong was the site of previous missile test launches, and the next one could coincide with the anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Day on Thursday, which Pyongyang celebrates as “Victory Day.”

U.S. experts believe that in the latest missile test on July 4, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with the potential of reaching Alaska but, for all its threats, top U.S. military officials doubt Pyongyang can follow through with military action.

Vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva said the July 4 test stopped short of showing North Korea had “the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success,” as Reuters reported on July 18.

On Sunday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford said North Korea is capable of launching a “limited” attack but that the U.S., Japan and South Korea have the military capacity to defend themselves.

South Korea however is seeking a revision of missiles guidelines stipulated with the U.S. in a bid to double its firepower in the latest move to counter the rising threat from the North. The latest deal revision, in 2012, allowed Seoul to increase the maximum allowable missile range to 800km from the previous limit of 300km, and to load up to 500kg of warheads on the 800km-range missiles. According to reports in the South Korean press, President Moon Jae-in discussed with President Donald Trump doubling the weight limit to 1 ton of warheads when they met at the end of June.

President Moon is also pursuing a diplomatic route to contain the threat from North Korea, inviting its northern neighbor for talks to ease border tensions. Pyongyang has yet to reply to the invitation, which will expire on Thursday.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:16 pm

North Korea Threatens to Strike U.S. With ‘Powerful Nuclear Hammer’
http://www.newsweek.com/north-korea-thr … and-641482

7/25/17

The North Korean regime has responded to CIA Director Mike Pompeo’s comments on regime change in Pyongyang.

A foreign ministry spokesman was quoted in the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) threatening a nuclear strike to “the heart of the U.S.” should the American secret service attempt to remove Kim Jong Un from power.

“Should the U.S. dare to show even the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership, we will strike a merciless blow at the heart of the U.S. with our powerful nuclear hammer, honed and hardened over time,” the spokesman said, as the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Tuesday.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado last Thursday, Pompeo called Kim Jong Un’s leadership the “most dangerous” element to the North Korean threat. While Pompeo avoided explicitly declaring Washington’s view over regime change, he hinted that the administration was looking into “separate capacity and someone who might well have intent and break those two apart”, before adding that “the North Korea people — I’m sure are lovely people — and would love to see him go as well.”

The fiery response from North Korea comes amid rumors of a new nuclear test scheduled for this week. According to a U.S. defense official quoted by CNN, ballistic missile launching equipment was detected arriving in Kusong, North Korea, last Friday. Kusong was the site of previous missile test launches, and the next one could coincide with the anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Day on Thursday, which Pyongyang celebrates as “Victory Day.”

U.S. experts believe that in the latest missile test on July 4, North Korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with the potential of reaching Alaska but, for all its threats, top U.S. military officials doubt Pyongyang can follow through with military action.

Vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Paul Selva said the July 4 test stopped short of showing North Korea had “the capacity to strike the United States with any degree of accuracy or reasonable confidence of success,” as Reuters reported on July 18.

On Sunday, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joe Dunford said North Korea is capable of launching a “limited” attack but that the U.S., Japan and South Korea have the military capacity to defend themselves.

South Korea however is seeking a revision of missiles guidelines stipulated with the U.S. in a bid to double its firepower in the latest move to counter the rising threat from the North. The latest deal revision, in 2012, allowed Seoul to increase the maximum allowable missile range to 800km from the previous limit of 300km, and to load up to 500kg of warheads on the 800km-range missiles. According to reports in the South Korean press, President Moon Jae-in discussed with President Donald Trump doubling the weight limit to 1 ton of warheads when they met at the end of June.

President Moon is also pursuing a diplomatic route to contain the threat from North Korea, inviting its northern neighbor for talks to ease border tensions. Pyongyang has yet to reply to the invitation, which will expire on Thursday.

Statistics: Posted by ReadyMom — Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:16 pm

Illini Warrior wrote:

TRex2 wrote:Do you have a cite for either of those assertions?

assertions? – try to follow current military activity and you might learn something ….

OK, then that would be a “no.” While you were following it, I was doing it.
But that was a generation ago, and I thought you might have something besides an urban legend.
Sorry to bother you.

if you haven’t heard the latest “assertion” – NK is readying another missile test – this one from a sub ….

Yep. Know all about it. Don’t care.
That isn’t the threat that will kill us, just a side show.

Statistics: Posted by TRex2 — Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:30 pm

Illini Warrior wrote:

TRex2 wrote:Do you have a cite for either of those assertions?

assertions? – try to follow current military activity and you might learn something ….

OK, then that would be a “no.” While you were following it, I was doing it.
But that was a generation ago, and I thought you might have something besides an urban legend.
Sorry to bother you.

if you haven’t heard the latest “assertion” – NK is readying another missile test – this one from a sub ….

Yep. Know all about it. Don’t care.
That isn’t the threat that will kill us, just a side show.

Statistics: Posted by TRex2 — Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:30 pm

TRex2 wrote:

Illini Warrior wrote:…
all the EMP studies have been conducted with intensity EMP emissions lower than what is actually expected by the military – specifically designed EMP weapons scaled to overcome the shieldings is expected – the civilian stuff is simply going to melt ….

NORAD moved back into Cheyenne Mountain solely for the EMP threat – spent billions $$$$$ on upgrading the protection – they know what is coming ….

Do you have a cite for either of those assertions?

assertions? – just common knowledge from following nuke development since the 1970s and doing something with a computer besides playing a video game and beating off to porn – try to follow current military activity and you might learn something ….

if you haven’t heard the latest “assertion” – NK is readying another missile test – this one from a sub ….

Statistics: Posted by Illini Warrior — Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:15 pm

TRex2 wrote:

Illini Warrior wrote:…
all the EMP studies have been conducted with intensity EMP emissions lower than what is actually expected by the military – specifically designed EMP weapons scaled to overcome the shieldings is expected – the civilian stuff is simply going to melt ….

NORAD moved back into Cheyenne Mountain solely for the EMP threat – spent billions $$$$$ on upgrading the protection – they know what is coming ….

Do you have a cite for either of those assertions?

assertions? – just common knowledge from following nuke development since the 1970s and doing something with a computer besides playing a video game and beating off to porn – try to follow current military activity and you might learn something ….

if you haven’t heard the latest “assertion” – NK is readying another missile test – this one from a sub ….

Statistics: Posted by Illini Warrior — Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:15 pm

TRex2 wrote:

Illini Warrior wrote:…
all the EMP studies have been conducted with intensity EMP emissions lower than what is actually expected by the military – specifically designed EMP weapons scaled to overcome the shieldings is expected – the civilian stuff is simply going to melt ….

NORAD moved back into Cheyenne Mountain solely for the EMP threat – spent billions $$$$$ on upgrading the protection – they know what is coming ….

Do you have a cite for either of those assertions?

assertions? – just common knowledge from following nuke development since the 1970s and doing something with a computer besides playing a video game and beating off to porn – try to follow current military activity and you might learn something ….

if you haven’t heard the latest “assertion” – NK is readying another missile test – this one from a sub ….

Statistics: Posted by Illini Warrior — Fri Jul 21, 2017 4:15 pm

apache235 wrote:
Actually the EMP has three components E1, E2 & E3 and hostile military forces are/have developed a super EMP that may run as high as 200,000 volts/meter. I would think that anything that has a computer chip in it would be toast unless protected by a very robust Faraday cage.

Yeah, the main one most preppers need to worry about is that E1.
The E2 component is just like lightning, and I have already been inside of a lightning bolt because of my job a couple of years ago, so that doesn’t intimidate me too much. Anything that interconnected by any kind of conductor to the outside world will be subject to the E2 and E3 components, and I don’t give those things more than a snowball’s chances in hell of surviving.

As for the Super EMP device, well, there is always an alien battle cruiser
or a Korlian death ray or some … oh, wait, wrong script

The limiting factor in the E1 component isn’t the bomb itself (unless it is very small), it’s the components of the atmosphere, so the only thing a Super EMP device can do is either allow them to use a smaller bomb, or increase the radius that the EMP will effect. I think the latter one is the real important one.

Statistics: Posted by TRex2 — Fri Jul 21, 2017 2:18 pm

apache235 wrote:
Actually the EMP has three components E1, E2 & E3 and hostile military forces are/have developed a super EMP that may run as high as 200,000 volts/meter. I would think that anything that has a computer chip in it would be toast unless protected by a very robust Faraday cage.

Yeah, the main one most preppers need to worry about is that E1.
The E2 component is just like lightning, and I have already been inside of a lightning bolt because of my job a couple of years ago, so that doesn’t intimidate me too much. Anything that interconnected by any kind of conductor to the outside world will be subject to the E2 and E3 components, and I don’t give those things more than a snowball’s chances in hell of surviving.

As for the Super EMP device, well, there is always an alien battle cruiser
or a Korlian death ray or some … oh, wait, wrong script

The limiting factor in the E1 component isn’t the bomb itself (unless it is very small), it’s the components of the atmosphere, so the only thing a Super EMP device can do is either allow them to use a smaller bomb, or increase the radius that the EMP will effect. I think the latter one is the real important one.

Statistics: Posted by TRex2 — Fri Jul 21, 2017 2:18 pm

Actually the EMP has three components E1, E2 & E3 and hostile military forces are/have developed a super EMP that may run as high as 200,000 volts/meter. I would think that anything that has a computer chip in it would be toast unless protected by a very robust Faraday cage.

Statistics: Posted by apache235 — Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:02 am