Former Defense Officials Urge U.S. Strike on North Korean Missile Site

Former defense secretary William J. Perry has called on President Bush to launch a preemptive strike against the long-range ballistic missile that U.S. intelligence analysts say North Korea is preparing to launch.
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Perry and (former assistant defense secretary Ashton B.) Carter suggest using a cruise missile launched from a submarine and carrying a high-explosive warhead. "The effect on the Taepodong would be devastating," they write, using the name of the Korean missile. "The multi-story, thin-skinned missile filled with high-energy fuel is itself explosive -- the U.S. airstrike would puncture the missile and probably cause it to explode. The carefully engineered test bed for North Korea's nascent nuclear missile force would be destroyed."

As President Bill Clinton's defense secretary, Perry oversaw preparation for airstrikes on North Korean nuclear facilities in 1994, an attack that was never carried out. He has remained deeply involved in Korean policy issues and is widely respected in national-security circles, especially among senior military officers. He has been a critic of the Bush administration's approach to North Korea.

"We believe diplomacy might have precluded the current situation," Perry and Carter said. "But diplomacy has failed, and we cannot sit by and let this deadly threat mature."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/21/AR2006062101838.html

I am tired of bush's and clintons, America deserves better than this, unfortunately the morans in this country that voted for bush don't

pyromaniacs that they start a fire.

I didn't want to see this. Ugh.

How many wars do these crazies want to be in, anyway? Even Hitler stopped at two fronts.

South Korea, Japan, maybe the U.S. if their missles could reach...

Suppose a country like North Korea had a handful of nuclear weapons that could inflict severe but limited destruction on U.S. interests, or even the U.S. mainland. Would they use them after a U.S. attack and risk total obliteration? It is very hard to predict.

The RAND corporation used to do this kind of wargaming, but I don't know if anyone ever really answered these questions satisfactorily. Would such a scenario fit into the theory of mutually assured destruction? It's a mug's game to try to guess. I think even an administration of madmen (Bush or Kim Il Jong) wouldn't take such risks though. It would be a mini-cold war type standoff.

If they even believe that it wasn't limited, that their back was against the wall, I don't think it takes rocket science(pun intended), to predict what would happen

That was why the notion of "limited nuclear war" that was floated by the Reagan administration was so dangerous. How could any nation be sure that only a few tactical nukes would be used, in a Soviet-NATO war for example? It would be very difficult to prevent the thing from quickly escalating into full blown nuclear war.

Same thing with Star Wars. An effective system would just make everything more unstable, if the enemy thought he had better fire his full complement of missiles first, hoping that enough would get through the shield to do some serious damage before he was wiped out.

As opposed to what we currently have???:shrug: I believe they would retaliate in some manner.

...Chinese, Japanese, Vietminese, Korean, etc.

and I don't think that will fly too well in that part of the world.

funny how they found a CLINTON guy to say it though. cute.

We hit the missile site and before you know it the NK Army is pouring across the Demilitarized Zone,

Japan and South Korea are being hit by conventional missiles, The Chinese are up in arms and the use of US tactical nukes is being considered. If China gets involved than the stakes go as high as out and out nuclear war.

All this because the chimp just gets a thrill out of the concept of "pre-emption".

I am not sure whether to laugh or cry.

...by ex-CLINTON ADMIN guys!!!! Will wonders never cease?

What will dear Hillary say?

dlc = repuke infiltraitors bent on destroying the democratic party from within.

i doubt the missle/area is left unattended.

but then- when has this misadministration ever cared about the innocents...?

it would be an act of war that would further cement our growing reputation as the world's most dangerous aggressor nation.