North Korea May Test Missile Capable of Hitting U.S., CIA Says

North Korea May Test Missile Capable of Hitting U.S., CIA Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=axiHxDe6PQFg&refer=japan

Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea may be ready to test-fire a long-range ballistic missile capable of reaching parts of the U.S. with a ``nuclear-weapon-sized payload,'' the Central Intelligence Agency said in a report to Congress.

The communist country has repeatedly threatened to test its nuclear weapons and is suspected of trying to obtain material for its uranium-enrichment program, the CIA said in a semiannual report containing declassified material on the acquisition of technology related to weapons of mass destruction. The report, spanning July 1 through Dec. 31 of 2003, identifies a range of countries and proliferation concerns, involving China and Iran.

North Korea has been under international pressure to scrap its nuclear program. Talks between China, North Korea and the U.S. in 2003 paved the way for six-nation talks to resolve its nuclear ambitions. Still, three rounds of six-way talks involving South Korea, Japan and Russia have yielded little.

``In late April 2003 during trilateral talks in Beijing, North Korea privately threatened to `transfer' or `demonstrate' its nuclear weapons,'' according to the report posted on the CIA's Web site. ``It repeated these threats in August 2003 at the six-party talks.''

The report also said North Korea may have ``unknown size'' of chemical weapons capable of being employed ``in a variety of delivery means'' and ``some'' biological arms available for use.

I'm not sure that Bush*ler would consider that a deterrant actually.

is a bright light before all my cells vaporise.

I was brought up during the cold war. Now I see it's Final Outcome. I know the results. Get with the (outdated-but equally lethal) program.

Armageddon may be just a "religious" notion to you, but Bush and Condi and Rummy take the destruction of the world seriously...don't ya know?

after they last tested a long range missile.I don't know if this was true but it is possible.

Really. Pathetic. Really pathetic. By the way, in a new backdoor buildup I bet those thousands of spies will actually be Bush's fifth column sneaks who pre-invade and do quick coups NOT intelligence gathering. A covert stealth Armed Services that is for which many disgruntled agents have been drafted used and lost without a blip on the national screen.

That and the itch to drop a nuke whenever the provocation arises.

,...is prolly already active. Haventcha' already noticed the blips here and there?

:bounce:

Bush's only loss in the spending bill was on new nuke r&d. Think this might be an attempt to demonstrate a need for that?

The Old CIA could be telegraphing to Congress that there's an abundance of worries in an attempt to temper the build of heated Iran rhetoric, begun by Powell and supported by thin intel that hadn't even worked through any CIA analysis. It really seems that bushies downplay the NK threat at every opportunity.

happen.

With this solid evidence in hand, we have no choice but to invade Antartica. Or Belize. Or New Zealand. Or maybe Madagascar. Or all of them. WE HAVE NO CHOICE! It's for the children! It's for the security of the homeland!

they are up to making ICBMs like the U$ and USSR of the 60's and 70's. That is pretty damn good. Just goes to show what ingenuity can do.
I guess to launch it they have all the North Koreans stand on a platform /lever type thing and all jump at once.

"The report also said North Korea may have ``unknown size'' of chemical weapons capable of being employed ``in a variety of delivery means'' and ``some'' biological arms available for use."

"may have", "unknown size", "some", etc. - This sounds like the usual scare tactics. I may have a time machine of unknown size in my backyard.

"North Korea continues to export ``significant'' related equipment, component materials and technical expertise to the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa with ``high priority'' because it's one of the country's major sources of hard currency, the report said."

This is another non-definitive statement dressed up like facts - all these terms (significant related equipment, component materials, technical expertise) could refer to almost anything.

This vague language is nearly always a sign that they are lying.

As a west-coaster, I'm not losing any sleep over NK's missiles. Assuming that the hypothetical (it's not been launched or possibly even built, it's literally hypothetical) Taep'o-dong 2 could actually spin up a warhead for proper reentry, it's still going to fall at least 1,000km short of Oregon/Washington if not 2,000-3,000km. And that's giving more credit to them and the Iranians than they deserve. They make shitty missiles which often as not malfunction.

We are not dealing with Germans with an eye for precision instruments, here. Just my take. Once the North Koreans develop an all-liquid missile that can break 4,000km then I might, just might, look up from my morning paper. That's years off.

PB

thousands of Nukes left over from the old days......

...ALREADY made instead of nukes and missiles capable of delivering them which have YET TO have their prototypes launched.

PB

After the USSR dissolved in the early 90's, Ukraine transferred all of it's nuclear warheads back to Russia, and the United States assisted in decommissioning nuclear weapons sites. The missiles themselves were mostly destroyed.

http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/ukraine/

of nukes heads lying around, not accounted for....

You'd think they too have a right to self defense, but no doubt our corrupt media will spin this as a terrorist threat from NK.

War Pig.

Hmm, so many little countries, so little time.

Oh geez, which one will win the sweepstakes and become the next lucky country we invade. We're talking tough in TWO places now.

Pakistan has nukes, buys N. Korean missiles, has sold nuclear technology to N. Korea, harbours terrorists, and has committed terrorist acts itself in Kashmir. Damn, I forgot: it's a US ally.

Yep, gotta love those allies.

So... no oil in Pakistan?

I find it racist and offensive.

*

A Mother Jones Special Report
How did corporations like Halliburton get millions in government contracts designated for small minority businesses?

Partnerships between multinational companies and tribal businesses, most of them Alaska native corporations, have skyrocketed in recent years—in large part because of a provision in federal law that exempts tribal companies from rules that apply to other minority-owned businesses. The system was established in the mid-1990s to help native communities, where unemployment rates often exceed 40 percent. But it has also become a way for large corporations with no Native American ownership to receive no-bid contracts, an avenue for federal officials to steer work to favored companies, and a device for speeding privatization. “It’s a loophole gone wild,” Charles Tiefer, an expert in federal contract law, recently told the trade journal Washington Technology. “I have seen little evidence that this produces jobs in Alaska as opposed to profits for those entrepreneurs skillful enough to exploit it.”

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/notebook/2004/11/11_400.html

A pity this isn't television, it's quite fascinating to watch.

It's a new world since 911! Deterence kept Russia from using nukes for 50 years but now it doesn't work against pitifully vulnerable North Korea. Reality is rent asunder. We must attack, ATTACK I SAY!

Don't they know we are the only people allowed to annihilate nations?

It seems like every month there's a new story that contains the same information: "North Korea soon to have missile that will drop right into your toilet while you're taking your morning crap!!!"
BE AFRAID!FEAR!TERROR!IT'S COMING FOR YOU!

Jeez, I'm scared now. I think I better buy something. Anything. Gotta relieve my fear with some serious consumerism. That'll make everything okay, won't it Uncle Dubya?

Or Korea might unify peacefully and have all that uranium over there and nuclear reactors all to themselves.

Let's get this fucking party started, mmkay!?