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(2nd LD) N. Korea fires long-range rocket: S. Korean official

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tunacan Donating Member (23 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:48 PM
Original message
(2nd LD) N. Korea fires long-range rocket: S. Korean official
Source: Yonhap News

SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired off a multistage rocket from a base along its east coast on Sunday, a senior South Korean foreign ministry official confirmed.

The blast-off occurred at around 11:30 a.m. and seems to have flown over Japan, the official told Yonhap News Agency, asking not to be named.


Read more: http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2009/04/04/60/0301000000AEN20090404002000315F.HTML
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NightWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:56 PM
Response to Original message
1. shit, hope it goes out to sea fast and detonates over the water
hope nothing was launched in retalliation
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iamthebandfanman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:18 AM
Response to Reply #1
35. detonates? n/t
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inwiththenew Donating Member (163 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 09:57 PM
Response to Original message
2. Here we go
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 09:57 PM by inwiththenew
Already high tension in the region are about ready to sky rocket. Who knows, maybe I am wrong.
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Selatius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:01 PM
Response to Original message
3. NORAD is likely tracking it. If they calculate its trajectory as hostile, we will retaliate.
If they calculate its trajectory as splashing down somewhere in the north Pacific, we probably won't do anything but send strongly worded letters to Dear Kim. Kim knows the US could wipe North Korea out with its own ballistic missiles.
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NightWatcher Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:03 PM
Response to Reply #3
4. this one appears to have gone further than the one in 06 that blew up 40 secs into it
SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea launched a rocket that passed over Japan on Sunday, defying calls from world leaders to scrap a plan that has caused international alarm.

The Japanese government said the rocket flew over Japan and its second booster stage had splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, indicating the launch had been successful.

The U.S. State Department confirmed North Korea had launched the rocket but had no further details.

The projectile launched from North Korea today appears to have passed over toward the Pacific," the Japan prime minister's office said in a statement.

On the projected path, the rocket was to drop boosters to Japan's west and east on a track running southwest of Hawaii.

The United States, South Korea and Japan say the plan is actually the test of a Taepodong-2 missile, which is designed to carry a warhead as far as Alaska.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday the international community would take action if North Korea went ahead with the launch to show Pyongyang it could not act with impunity

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30035197/
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conspirator Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 03:08 AM
Response to Reply #3
52. What is a hostile trajectory? Can you be more specific? nt
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paulk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 08:02 AM
Response to Reply #52
54. one that would hit Japan?
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MrPerson Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:04 PM
Response to Original message
5. So the missle has been raunched.
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Juche Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:06 PM
Response to Reply #5
6. LMAO
Feer my rath america.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:17 PM
Response to Original message
7. Nothing will happen
There will be no retaliation. It's all bluster.
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inwiththenew Donating Member (163 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:21 PM
Response to Reply #7
8. Yep,
North Korea called Japan's bluff.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:23 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Most likely scenario
In a few years (maybe up to a decade) Wal-Marts of North America will be flooded with North Korean junk, as they get welcomed into the international community as the latest and greatest low wage country.

That's assuming that we still have a functioning economy.
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Pavulon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:25 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. by starving the poor basards who live there
to throw up a silly Estes rocket. the norks are not our buddies.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:33 PM
Response to Reply #10
13. I didn't say they were
I don't particularly see them as enemy or friend. They are one of those countries that people can project their fears on, though.
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Pavulon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:35 PM
Response to Reply #13
14. If they can make a cheaper better front load washer than samsung...
they are set.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:36 PM
Response to Reply #14
16. You never know
They may be a cheap labor source country in the near future.
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psychopomp Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:36 AM
Response to Reply #8
47. I heard the J-govt had said that it would destroy the missile
if it was seen on a trajectory taking it over Japan. Guess that didn't quite pan out.
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Regret My New Name Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:29 PM
Response to Original message
11. Sooo, where'd it go?
Explode in the sky? Fall into the ocean? On its way to blow up the moon and screw with the Earth's tides?
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:35 PM
Response to Reply #11
15. I think there is probably a Sputnik type sattelite up there
With North Korea's name on it, going "beep, beep, beep". There probably isn't much more to it.
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thelordofhell Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:31 PM
Response to Original message
12. Sarah Palin just saw it fly past her porch
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geomon666 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:35 PM
Response to Reply #12
22. ROFL! n/t
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earcandle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:59 PM
Response to Original message
17. Glad N.Korea's Missile passed over Japan and took a bath in the Pacific. No harm in that, huh?
Boyz do have their ego's to uphold yes? 
We should stop acting like the police of the world, methinks. 
It is way too costly and bears way too much responsibility.
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tunacan Donating Member (23 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 10:59 PM
Response to Original message
18. little update
N. Korea fires long-range rocket, draws international outcry

By Lee Chi-dong and Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, April 5 (Yonhap) -- North Korea went ahead with a controversial long-range rocket launch on Sunday, prompting strong condemnations from South Korea and other regional powers.

(snip snip)

A senior South Korean foreign ministry official identified the North's rocket as a "space vehicle" carrying a satellite.

"We believe North Korea fired a rocket carrying a satellite," the official said. However, it does not necessarily mean that the launch was a success."

(snip snip)

Japanese media said, meanwhile, the first stage of the rocket splashed down in waters near Japan's northwestern coast and the second stage fell into the Pacific Ocean, as the North had previously notified international bodies.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2009/04/05/3/0301000000AEN20090405003100315F.HTML
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high density Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:08 PM
Response to Reply #18
19. Why are US and Japan acting so surprised and outraged?
I am trying to figure out why it is alright for us to launch satellites but not OK for the North Koreans.
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earcandle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:23 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. That is what I call an ethical, logical and passionate inquiry.
Edited on Sat Apr-04-09 11:23 PM by earcandle
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earcandle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:18 AM
Response to Reply #20
27. Must all of the kings men choose to be enraged rather than engaged. That was quite a feat for a
small poor country. 

Known most for their status of being poor (economically) and
ignored, these people of N. Korea, may feel abused.  

If not at home, perhaps by those abroad? 

Or are they trembling over the idea that they could be bombed
next?  

They get no recognition,have a lot of pride in their
accomplishments, which are endless, (made in Korea) and have
to risk their lives to get some respect or food or shelter.  

I'd like to do some investigative reporting on other cultures
and make web programs that cause intercultural interactions
and meaning making to come in abundance so we have something
progressive to work on instead of being in our heads. Or I
need this.  

Feed our heads with next steps for our own new world order,
and take what we get based on the principles of arts,
sciences, and the humanities, skipping over religion, going
back to the root.  Religion and mating are personal events,
not public business unless it disturbs the peace.  Why are we
ignoring the destruction religion causes by war and
devastation?  

Can we make it work?  Offer programs that provide education,
training, preventative health conferences, seminars and
sessions, and can our well being be regarded important enough
to be included in public interest issues once again?  

How about work camps for government sponsored contract
development?  I could help.  Provide training projects for
those who want to learn a trade by doing it and sell the
products or better yet, services (no capital, just training)
to get more people into the program.  Upon graduation their
success gets mentored by an industry expert and once they are
independent and self sufficient small business they hired from
within their groups.  We pass the skills onto our children. I
think it used to be called vocational training?  Through
supervised training courses this graduated workforce is funded
for a small business based on the training. Hey,we need social
programs to protect us from the greedy and give us something
to live for, to develop by.  And to be responsible for our own
incomes.  Rates self adjust when small businesses interact.   


Don't you think we need to think of positive ways to connect
that are not candy coated b.s.?  
Am I getting through? 

We don't need another war or any war, really. 

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Joe the Revelator Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:32 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. Because anytime a mad man can send a rocket to just off your shore
you have a right to be a little bit concerned. It would like Charles Manson moving into the foreclosed house next door to yours.
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Mithreal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:53 AM
Response to Reply #21
31. We just had 8 years of mad men in the White House.
Madeleine Albright's opinion is different and she has spent time with him. "I actually said he wasn't a nut. I said that he was rational, he was...what he is, is isolated. He's not a nut."

The rightwingers call him names like Charles Manson and worse though. I am unsure if anything they say is ever helpful to America and our foreign policy.

Our country continues to have a much higher potential to do harm to the people of another country than any other country out there.
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DonCoquixote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:41 PM
Response to Reply #19
23. Because
Unlike Saddam, the NK regime has consistently threatened our nation and it's neighbors, even going so far as to threaten to use nukes on us directly, something Saddam himself never did.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:58 PM
Response to Reply #23
26. How about a few examples.
Such claims require evidence.
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DonCoquixote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:24 AM
Response to Reply #26
30. here you go
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Mithreal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:07 AM
Response to Reply #30
32. North Korean belligerence is pretty meaningless
Even the paranoid Bush administration seemed to not take their threats seriously.
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Arrowhead2k1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:14 AM
Response to Reply #32
34. They're an enemy nuclear power on the verge of having long-range strike capability.
I'd start taking them seriously.
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Mithreal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:28 AM
Response to Reply #34
38. Motive? Nuclear weapons are defensive and ensure mutual destruction.
The threat level is minimal.

On the verge is meaningless. Is that supposed to be scary?

America has proven to be pretty careless with our nuclear secrets and I would imagine most any country who wants to can have the capacity to make long range strike capable missiles. Maybe we can stop the rest of the world from ever progressing technologically so that we won't have to fear them?
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Arrowhead2k1 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:40 AM
Response to Reply #38
40. We can't afford to be naive when it comes to this kind of stuff.
Take a closer look at the NK leadership specifically. Their society and policies are patently loopy, like nothing else we've seen on Earth.

The Korean War was never officially finished, there's a very good chance it will resume one day who knows when. You really think that in their most desperate hour these guys would hesitate to use everything they got?

Frankly, there is only one country on Earth that I am truly scared, yes SCARED, about being nuclear capable, and that's the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
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Mithreal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 01:11 PM
Response to Reply #40
49. Can't afford to apply logic or ask motive either.
When you have some proof the leadership is suicidal, bring it. I don't mind sharing your fears if there was some hard evidence to fear them.
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tunacan Donating Member (23 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:48 PM
Response to Reply #19
24. How about because NK is not US?
You can also stuff the missile with other stuff and point it to a different direction. Same technology, different uses.
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Mithreal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:19 AM
Response to Reply #24
36. Nuclear warheads in unstable Pakistan are how much worse?
But they don't have a leader like Kim that we can hang our fears upon and we are already bombing people in their territory.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Apr-04-09 11:57 PM
Response to Reply #19
25. Because the U.S. and Japan are hypocrites
As are all countries, when it comes to these matters. We all want to be able to do things that we deny to others.
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joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:39 AM
Response to Reply #25
29. Oh yeah, denying nuclear ballistic missle rights are so hypocritical.
Why, we should just give every country nukes and long rance missles.
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Mithreal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:12 AM
Response to Reply #29
33. And the motive? They want more food and other support.
My understanding was Clinton worked out a deal that Bush came in and broke immediately. Wanna bet they want a similar deal from Obama? I haven't kept up on N Korea so someone tell me if I am wrong and we went back to the Clinton concessions already which I highly doubt.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:08 PM
Response to Reply #29
50. It is hypocritical to give yourself a right that you deny to others
Edited on Sun Apr-05-09 02:09 PM by daleo
For no other reason than self interest. If the U.S. was to give up its own nuclear missile capability, then it could lecture other countries.

I am not crazy about a world full of nuclear missile wielding countries, but let's be honest about it. It is ike a homeowner who wants to be the only gun owner in the area. It is an understandable desire, but still hypocritical. Naturally that homeowner will rationalize it by saying that all his neighbors are crazy or unstable, but that is all it is - rationalization.
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MellowDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 07:50 AM
Response to Reply #50
53. To be a gun owner...
you can't be insane. North Korea is the "insane" guy society has deemed unsafe to own a gun. It's not hypocrisy. It's not an excuse. Your argument, though, IS insane.
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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 12:53 PM
Response to Reply #53
55. You have no evidence that North Korea is "insane"
Countries can't be insane. Leaders can be, but probably not for long. The leadership may be dysfunctional, but that could be said of all kinds of countries.

The fact that you called me insane demonstrates that you don't have an actual argument.

Try using that technique in a court of law or a debate. You would be laughed at.

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MellowDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 01:07 PM
Response to Reply #55
56. I didn't call you insane...
I called your argument insane. And it is. Yes, North Korea is not literally a person, but its government is more than just dysfunctional. And though it could be said of all kinds of countries, those countries don't hold the power to extinguish millions of lives in a flash. For the analogy I was using it was appropriate to personify a country.

To say it's ok for North Korea to own nukes because to say otherwise is hypocrisy is a rather insane prospect. It's not about hypocrisy. Just because we own nukes does not mean we are being hypocrites for trying to stop their spread. They are a dangerous and apocolyptic weapon. Just because you own a gun doesn't mean you don't want to see gun laws enacted that keep them from being spread far and wide to whomever.

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daleo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Apr-06-09 03:11 PM
Response to Reply #56
57. I didn't say that it wouldn't be a good idea to try to limit nuclear proliferation
It's just that doing it on an ad-hoc basis isn't a lasting solution, and any argument that is constructed to fit ad-hoc cases will be hypocritical. The world nuclear powers might be able to get together and prevent any new members to the club. That might even be a good idea, but any argument in favor of that position will be bound to be hypocritical and self-serving. It might also be more destabilizing than letting things alone. I suspect that's the real reason that new members to the club have historically be allowed.

Short of a world government, it is difficult to envision a way to de-nuclearize the world. In my opinion that leaves us with the balance of terror, which probably works as well with 20 countries as with 2. The reason that the balance of terror seems to work, is that the elites (military, political and economic) of any given country know that they will be the first to go in a nuclear exchange (because of the so called decapitation tactic). So far that has worked, and I don't see why North Korean elites would be any more suicidal than any other country's elites. I know people say they are especially crazy, but I don't see any reason to agree. Yes, they have a bizarre personality cult, but so did the Soviet Union under Stalin and China under Mao. Neither country nuked their neighbors, because their elites wanted to live, regardless of personality cults.

Certainly, I would prefer North Korean not have nuclear weapons, but I can think of plenty of other nuclear powers just as dangerous as North Korea. For example, both Pakistan and Israel have dangerous religious elements that have apocalyptic visions. Frankly, they seem more likely to push the button than some remnants of Stalinism in North Korea.
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joshcryer Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 12:38 AM
Response to Reply #19
28. Satellite? The trajectory was clearly long range ballistic.
This is undoubted.
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iamthebandfanman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:21 AM
Response to Reply #28
37. yah, i find the trajectory strange
but then again im not a rocket scientist.

at any rate, they have every right to shoot off things so long as they dont harm anybody else...

hes bat shit crazy thats for sure, but he always WANTS a response... he wants to escalate.
his health is failing and im sure hes looking to make a big name for himself before he goes, since thats what his entire life has been focused around... being famous...
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Mithreal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 03:30 AM
Response to Reply #37
39. Madeleine Albright says he isn't. And the trajectory seems obvious.
Maximum effect.

But then you would have to question their motive.
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high density Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 02:22 PM
Response to Reply #28
51. The trajectory was to utilize the earth's rotation.
Is there some reason to doubt it was a satellite? Even the MSM says it was apparently a satellite based on imagery of the launch pad. They can play the fear card all they want, I do not think Mentally Il is so stupid as to attack us or Japan. It's like Saddam Hussein part 2.
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Eugene Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 05:42 AM
Response to Original message
41. (KCNA via Reuters) N.Korea says it successfully launched satellite
Source: Reuters

TEXT-N.Korea says it successfully launched satellite
Sun Apr 5, 2009 3:51am EDT

SEOUL, April 5 (Reuters) - Following is a full text of the English-language report on North Korea's KCNA news agency on Sunday saying the communist state had successfully put a satellite into orbit:

"Scientists and technicians of the DPRK (North Korea) have succeeded in putting satellite Kwangmyongsong-2, an experimental communications satellite, into orbit by means of carrier rocket Unha-2 under the state's long-term plan for the development of outer space.

"Unha-2, which was launched at the Tonghae Satellite Launching Ground in Hwadae County, North Hamgyong Province at 11:20 (0220 GMT) on April 5, accurately put Kwangmyongsong-2 into its orbit at 11:29:02, nine minutes and two seconds after its launch.

"The satellite is going round the earth along its elliptic orbit at the angle of inclination of 40.6 degrees at 490 km perigee and 1,426 km apogee. Its cycle is 104 minutes and 12 seconds.

-snip

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSSEO88417
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pampango Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 06:16 AM
Response to Reply #41
43. BBC: "North Korea space launch 'fails'"
"Two stages of the rocket and its payload landed in the Pacific Ocean, a US military statement said. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7984254.stm
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Optical.Catalyst Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 06:01 AM
Response to Original message
42. Our Strategic Missile Defense failed to shoot it down
I didn't think either the Japanese or the Americans could shoot it down, and they didn't

President Obama needs to cancel the Strategic Missile Defense along with several other wasteful defense programs.

Strategic Missile Defense did not do us any good dealing with the North Koreans. The F-22 is an overpriced relic of the Cold War. The DDG-1000 is useless for modern naval operations. We don't need the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter because up graded F-16 and F-18 can perform the same mission for the next 20 years. The Reliable Replacement Warhead is simply a complete waste of money.

Our President should redirect the money from wasteful defense programs into clean, renewable energy projects that will benefit all of us. The big defense contractors are welcome to bid in the energy projects if the like.
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ohio2007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:19 AM
Response to Reply #42
44. Do you have a link where Obama gave them the OK to shoot ?
giving Kim "a stern warning" isn't the same as saying "a grave result" will happen.

The F-22 won't bwe cancelled as to many congressman want the jobs in their home districts.

Kinda like that Ospry program the marines didn't want but....politicians forced them to take anyway
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Optical.Catalyst Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:33 AM
Response to Reply #44
46. No, I have nothing more that rumor about shooting down the Korean satellite
There was talk in the news about positioning the Aegis cruisers by both the United States and Japan "just in case".

I think if the Navy could have shot the thing down, they would have done it. An unexpected missile launch is quite a bit different than shooting down one of our errant satellites that has been tracked for months before we launch the interceptor.

President Obama is reviewing each and every defense acquisition program looking for wasteful ones to cut. The F-22 is right up there on the top of the list along with the Army's Future Combat Systems.

There is so much waste in the Defense Department it boggles the mind. A good portion of the waste comes from just what you said:
"many congressman want the jobs in their home districts".
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ohio2007 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 07:21 AM
Response to Original message
45. and the starving peasants praise the achievements of Kim..how fortunate they are to have him
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annabanana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Apr-05-09 08:07 AM
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48. It broke up and fell into the sea...n/t
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