Thread: US To Shoot Down N. Korean Rocket?

No need too,
it would fail on her own...

Ridiculous idea. Foolish if they do, just start another war!!!!!!

I agree. It's extremely disrespectful. We can protest, biitch, whine, and moan, but shooting down someone else's test is just wrong. Especially we aren't even at war.

Originally Posted by Chaobam Armour

Ridiculous idea. Foolish if they do, just start another war!!!!!!

That's what I was thinking, so I was a bit surprised that somebody would openly discuss shooting it down with one of our ASAT systems.

I doubt it would start a war. NK would complain, but I don't see them starting a war with the US over it.

There is a decent chance it fails anyway, and if it does launch, and we shoot at it and miss, we look really bad.

And the bottom line is, they have a right to do it, as long as they file all the proper notices.

Unwarranted. That is unless that missle is not launching a satellite or going into orbit. NK claims to have aquired a long distance missle capability capable of striking either Hawaii or Alaska. If that missle perchance were to head in that direction (AEGIS will automatically calculate/tabulate the trajectory and determine for itself) and head towards either then it WILL be shot down wether it has the capability to reach fuel wise or not if the trajactory matches its a legal shoot and no doubt there will be guided missle cruiser standing by somewhere close. I have not seen any media reports based upon the threads title.
For their sake I hope this is not some "I want attention" stunt because the reply would be very swift in terms.

Dam shame they dont put such energy and expense into their deal with the U.S. regarding their nuclear arsenal. Pulling things like this just plain dangerous.

Originally Posted by Johnny W

And the bottom line is, they have a right to do it, as long as they file all the proper notices.

Actually, the launch would violate a UN resolution that "bans their ballistic missle activity"; also, apparently it was Secretary of Defense Gates himself who said that one of our options would be to "shoot the missile down". Here's the link I have:

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/...15&m=101177685

NKorea orders military on combat alert


SEOUL – North Korea put its military on combat alert Monday as US and South Korean forces started a major joint exercise which the communist nation has branded as a prelude to invasion.

The North, which is preparing what it calls a satellite launch, also warned that any attempt to shoot down the rocket would be treated as an act of war.

It then severed its last communications channels with South Korea, leaving more than 700 people unable to cross the heavily-fortified border to a joint industrial complex at Kaesong just to its north.

The moves follow a threat last week against South Korean civilian airlines using the North's airspace, which has forced them to re-route flights.

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak was briefed Monday by his top security officials on the latest statements.

Pyongyang has repeatedly accused Seoul and Washington of using the annual exercises, which this year will last until March 20, as a pretext to launch an attack on it -- a claim denied by the United States and the South.

In a statement carried by the state Korean Central News Agency, the Korean People's Army described the exercises as "unprecedented in the number of the aggressor forces involved and in their duration."

"The KPA Supreme Command issued an order to all service persons to be fully combat-ready," the statement said.

"A war will break out if the US imperialists and the warmongers of the South Korean puppet military hurl the huge troops and sophisticated strike means to mount an attack."

The North added in a separate statement that it would cut off North-South military communications during the exercises, as maintaining normal channels would be "nonsensical."

South Koreans cannot cross the border without approval by North Korea via the military communications lines.

"Our government regrets" the measure, unification ministry spokesman Kim Ho-Nyoun said in Seoul, calling on Pyongyang to withdraw it immediately.

The joint exercise involves a US aircraft carrier, 26,000 US soldiers and more than 30,000 South Korean troops.

It comes at a time of high tension with the South and growing pressure on the reclusive North to end its nuclear weapons programme and drop any plans to test its longest-range missile.

Although North Korea says it is preparing to fire a rocket for a satellite launch, Seoul and Washington believe the real purpose is to test a Taepodong-2 missile that could theoretically reach Alaska.

The North Korean army's General Staff said it would retaliate "with prompt counter-strikes by the most powerful military means" if there was any attempt to intercept the satellite.

Japan said last week that it was prepared to shoot down any rocket headed toward its territory, and Admiral Timothy Keating, who commands the US Pacific Command, said interceptor ships were ready "on a moment's notice."

The new US envoy for North Korea, Stephen Bosworth, cautioned against any launch.

"We've indicated our position to them on the question of the missile launch, or satellite launch, or whatever they call it. We think it's very ill-advised," he said Saturday on arrival in South Korea for talks.

He also urged Pyongyang to cease threats against South Korean planes near its airspace. "I think everyone would be a lot happier if they would drop that line of rhetoric."

The North is angry at South Korea's Lee, a conservative who has scrapped his predecessors' policy of offering virtually unconditional aid to Pyongyang.

Analysts suspect it is also taking a tougher stance as it competes for US President Barack Obama's attention with other world hotspots.

The North has previously warned that the "slightest" conflict during the exercises could rapidly escalate, and fears of a border clash have grown since January 30 when it scrapped peace accords with Seoul and warned of war.

gunnut,

Especially we aren't even at war.

well, technically, the US never did sign a peace treaty with North Korea...

Originally Posted by astralis

gunnut,

well, technically, the US never did sign a peace treaty with North Korea...

True, but we didn't declare war either...

gunnut,

True, but we didn't declare war either...

it'd be the same as the various bombing runs we did vis-a-vis saddam hussein's iraq. operation desert fox and operation southern watch.

if they shoot up that satellite, i'd want the US to shoot it down. it's also insufferable enough that they even had enough uranium/plutonium to make a botched attempt at a nuclear bomb, mating it to rocket technologies presents way too much a threat to the US. frankly put, whatever justifications the US had against going to war with iraq in 2003 is magnified 10 fold here.

Originally Posted by astralis

gunnut,

it'd be the same as the various bombing runs we did vis-a-vis saddam hussein's iraq. operation desert fox and operation southern watch.

if they shoot up that satellite, i'd want the US to shoot it down. it's also insufferable enough that they even had enough uranium/plutonium to make a botched attempt at a nuclear bomb, mating it to rocket technologies presents way too much a threat to the US. frankly put, whatever justifications the US had against going to war with iraq in 2003 is magnified 10 fold here.

That's one thing I disagreed with most about NK. I don't believe NK is a direct threat, or even a perceived threat to CONUS.

Unlike islamists, Kim is interested in Kim. Kim is interested in holding on to power. Kim is a classic dictator, like Mugabe.

Saddam, on the other hand, had a possibility to be dangerous. He was not predictable. His invasion of Iran and then Kuwait were surprises. And unlike NK, Iraq didn't have a China to keep a lid on things.

Originally Posted by gunnut

Saddam, on the other hand, had a possibility to be dangerous. He was not predictable. His invasion of Iran and then Kuwait were surprises. And unlike NK, Iraq didn't have a China to keep a lid on things.

Hard to believe that US gov was sooo suprise when the dictator invaded Iran in 1980, and when it did it again Kuwait in 1990. Specially, the Iran-Iraq war could have been seen coming miles aways by anyone.
Now, I would be damn suprise if todays Malaki's Iraq invades Iran OR Kuwait.
That would be a suprise.

Saddam fits very well in the annals of classical predictable dictator along with Mughabe and Kimmy boy. AND saddam was not a islamist btw. Iraq could have been the Vatican City, but the Roman Catholic Saddam would have been no different than the one you know today.

Now, if you say Kim was less dangerous than say some Islamic terrorist oraganization, that can be debated and agreed or disagreed upon.

The real question is, if the thing does fail all on it's own, will the NORKs admit it or blame it on us anyway? My guess is the later. Looks like Obama's going to get another reality check.