Gates: U.S. in Good Position if North Korea Launches Missile Toward Hawaii
The military has deployed missile interceptors and radar to safeguard Hawaii
U.S. defense officials say that the military has deployed missile interceptors and radar to safeguard Hawaii from a potential North Korean missile test expected around July 4. The announcement comes as tensions between the two countries escalate over North Korea's controversial nuclear-weapon program.
Speaking at a Pentagon news conference yesterday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that the United States is prepared if North Korea test-fires a missile toward the island.
"We do have some concerns if they were to launch a missile . . . in the direction of Hawaii," Gates said. "We are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect American territory."
A powerful sea-based radar system would closely track the path of any incoming long-range ballistic missiles. Missile-defense weapons would intercept any potential threats, Gates said.
The Obama administration's concern that Pyongyang might soon fire a missile toward Hawaii follows reports by the Japanese media yesterday that North Korea plans to conduct another nuclear test next month.
Earlier this week, President Barack Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed to stop North Korea from possessing nuclear weapons. Obama called a nuclear-armed North Korea a "grave threat" to the world.
Reader Comments
Missile threat
JUNE 5, 2009, THE DAY PAST THE NORTH KOREAN MISSILE THREAT. Regardless
whether it was only a passing idle threat or, if Hawaii, Alaska or Southren California is
no longer on the map, this situation will never be over from this day and time on. North
Korea has nuclear weapons, it is only a matter of time before Iran has them, if they don't
already. And as each year goes by, it seems that more countries are attempting to
develope their own nuclear weapons...including those countries who sponsor terrorist
organizations. It's becoming very clear, to anyone who is willing to see things as they
are, that this world we live in gets more dangerous as time goes on. If you really want to
be honest with yourself, consider in your own mind, do you suppose it is only a matter
of time before a nuclear war breaks loose on this planet? I wouldn't want to be a
nonbeliever when it happens. Earlier this year, I made a sincere decission to call upon
the Lord for forgiviness of the sins in my life, and repented from sin for the remission of
sins. (No one in this life will ever be perfect...you still try) I'm now 55 years old, and for
years I fooled myself with the notion that everything will work out fine as it was. If you
have never became a christian, YOU ARE PLAYING THE FOOL, AS I WAS FOR THE
PAST 54 YEARS...AND PLAYING THE FOOL WITH YOUR OWN SOUL. Have you
ever considered whether you will have advanced warning if your hometown became the
target for an approaching nuclear missile. Most likely not. Do you think your government
is willing to panic it's people who they cannot save anyway? Television shows will
not be interupted by "special news bulletins". The Emergancy Broadcast System will
not air on radio. You'll hear no air raid sirens. No hysterical people in the streets. There
will be no mass of people killing and running over each other in a mad rush to get away
from town as far and as fast as they possibly can. And no one who is not already a
christian will be making last minute decissions to call upon the Lord...No one will know
what's coming. When the initial nuclear flash hits, this life is over in a billointh of a
second. Those who are not saved will suddenly be in Hell, wondering what happened
and how they got there so quickly, while the thurmosphere explosion is still scortching
away the ground where their hometown was only seconds before. If you go to Hell lost,
and someday stand before God in judgement before you and the rest of Hell are cast
into the Lake of Fire for eternity, you will remember each time someone spoke to you
about your spiritual condition...including what you've just read.
Some people believe the Lake of Fire is the molten core of the Earth. Would you bet
your soul it's not?
Idiot
Brett,
You are truely a fool. Yes we have an armament of of nukes. LOTS of nukes that we will never use. We have used them in anger. We used them in WW2 to end the war of wars. We laid to waste two cities and tramatized a nation so badly they laid down their weapon in a war that woudl have continued for years.
However though we are the only country in the world to have used nukes in anger. We DO NOT threaten a large protion of the free world with sabre rattling and false claims of laying to waste our enemies with said weapons. We have not used them for over 60+ years and will probably never use them again unless we have been struck with them.
If we wanted to we could lay to waste the military of North Korea. We dont. we maintain a deterent force in South Korea to take out these "threats".
It is stupid people like you that think laying down our arms and think how can we not let them have them if we have them. We are a stable government that has a huge system of checks and balances before such a weapon is used. These governments do not have these checks or balances to keep the use of these WMD's from being used. That is the flaw in your thinking. Get a clue man.
Re: North Korea
If a chemical weapon were intercepted over the pacific, the weapon would not cause much damage. Much of the warhead will be burned in the interception, what survives won't be dispersed properly(hit the water in chunks), and what does get into the air will be too spread out to kill anyone. There are a lot of factors here that can make a missle more or less effective, but I can just say I have full faith in our military to protect us from anything North Korea can throw at us.
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