Nice name for the missile: Taepodong 2

Sounds more like the name of a marital aid, although in this case I suppose it couldn't reach the 'J-spot'.

I feel sorry for the North Korean scientists and their families who will pay a terrible price for this failure.

That is the communist way, punish entire families, it helps weaken family ties throughout the entire sealed-off society, family, after all, being a distraction from devotion to the state.

Just another whackjob commie dictator, murdering millions of his own people by starvation while his little commie dreams crumble around his desperate military gambits.

Wonder what old Fidel "I was a pallbearer at Trudeau's Funeral" Castro thinks of his NK compadre . . .

I guess the Taepodong 2 suffered from an extreme case of premature trajectulation!!

How sad for the great leader.

Syncro

I think it's inevitrabrr..inevitribbre that this will all come to a head. But I've always wondered why China would allow this wild hair to fester on it's eastern buttock. Might it be useful to them somehow to have this backwards, horrifyingly indoctrinated and dangerous little sabre-rattling country on it's doorstep? Seems doubtful.

North Korea is desperate to get a non-aggression treaty with the USA. They are paranoid that they will be attacked. A treaty would enable the regime to relax their military spending and also gain trade access to many Western nations. They need the Amercian currency, the security, the recognition and the trade. The US likes to play "starve and freeze-out the enemy" whenever they meet resistence and want regime change. Other nations watch and learn, don't cross the USA, you will pay a high price.

"Other nations watch and learn, don't cross the USA, you will pay a high price."

....and the problem with that is?

Steve D and Mugs said, "Other nations watch and learn, don't cross the USA, you will pay a high price.

....and the problem with that is?"

They might actually like exercising real freedoms, instead of faux freedoms enshrined by tinpot dictators and other brainwashed noodleheads.

"(we) need the Amercian currency, the security, the recognition and the trade" and oh by the way, we're trying to lob a nuclear weapon at your west coast.

What could possibly go wrong with this strategy?

p.s. - Happy July 4th to all our American friends!

Sounds like a fishy explanation. Don't worry. North Korea is only interested in testing this missile so they will be able to export lots of them to countries that want ICBM's. Don't worry about it. What was Mr Park thinking?

Hans I don't have a problem with the US (or any other country) not being keen on getting crossed, and doing something about it.
I was wondering what problem Steve seen with that?
If the North Korean's where so paranoid about being attacked why push another country's buttons?

Hans

It's not a problem. I was just pointing out to any that maybe don't know how international relations work. North Korea wants a treaty and they are being ignored so they make a few waves in the area so that Japan and South Korea will call up the President and say, "Will you do deal with this guy? He is making people nervous in our country.
It won't work, but that is North Korea's desperate hope.

Watch it folks! Don't feed the troll. Steve d is here.

BCer
Thanks for your two cents worth. You are much more interesting than any ol troll.

Can't you people refrain from 'adolescent, cool speech lingo) and discuss issues directly? That is when you're not wielding 'internet baseball bats'

Personally greatful some of you aren't teaching my offspring.

Earth calling ET -- did you have anything at all to do with the 'space debris' which came within a hair's breadth of our planet last night. Imagine it taking out ET, one of its own! LOL Glad it missed you ET. Really I am.

Here's a focus point for your 'club' -- concentrate on 'due process of law' in gov't going forward. That's good gov't folks.

Apparantly the Great Leader is not desperate enough for talks. This from the NYT who of course or pro Bush.(scarcasm off)

North Korea has demanded bilateral talks with the United States, while the Bush Administration has offered to meet only in six-way talks involving Japan, China, Russia and South Korea as well.

Even the NYT is not seditious enough to claim North Korea is "desperate for talks".

Truthiness rules!!

Syncro

"(we) need the Amercian currency, the security, the recognition and the trade"

Odd...why would they want to trade within a saturated market containing ~5% of the world's population?

Oh, right - negative externalities...

Rape their ecology and abuse their population, all to produce cheap trinkets that can sell in a free market.

Why should they bother? Good question. Perhaps China has the answer.

syncro
The missles are tantamount to rattling his cage to get attention. NYT rarely uses language such as countries being desperate for anything. It is not proper journalistic form. Good thing I am not a journalist. To me he is desperate. Clinton got North Korea to stop its nuclear processes and allow monitoring. Clinton was supposed to do a deal. He never did obviously, so Bush has been flat out ignoring North Korea's demands, kajoling, threats, etc. This has been going on a long time. Yeah, I would say they are desperate all right.

Maurice Strong, Kofi Annan, Paul Martin, Jr., Donguesun Park, and their expert on North Korea, Han Park, Scud, Nodong, and Taepodong(sic) report as follows: You got that, Woody? Yes, Buzz...-

N. Korea fired the total of 10 missiles(Scud, Nodong, Taepodong-2)
Posted by TigerLikesRooster
On 07/04/2006 5:27:47 PM PDT · 76 replies · 2,067+ views

Chosun Ilbo ^ | 07/05/06 | Lee Hawon
/begin my summary Between 3:30am and 7:30am(S. Korean time,) N. Korea fired 10 missile into the direction of East Sea(Sea of Japan,) according to a senior (S. Korean) government official. He added, "N. Korea's Taepodong-2 was fired at their third or fourth launch, but apparently failed." Another government official said, "N. Korea fired Scud, Nodong, and Taepodong missiles in sequence." /end my summary...
freerepublic

Coming soon to an ocean near you;

Lice Lockets from Herr

Starring: Pyon Brando Gyang

Why would N. Korea need to fire off some missiles to get attention? After all, if one believes the N. Korean news media, the Dear Leader, in his very first ever round of golf, achieved 11 holes-in-one...quite an accomplishment. /sarcasm off/

Actually, it appears that one of Dear Leader's biggest worries is that the populace is starting to understand how bad it is in the hermit kingdom. Until recently, he had them convinced that NK was the most prosperous and successful nation on earth. The increasing flow of people and information across the border is beginnning to have a significant effect on how the populace view his regime.

When faced with possible internal problems, rule number one is to manufacture a threat from without...

Just saw the update from the yabbering head on CTV, she asked the other liberal knowit all "expert" if Bill Clinton would get the call from George W. to go on over to North Korea and save the world.
I kid you not.
CTV is a joke!

N. Korea's failed efforts are amusing for the moment, but let's not forget that the early V2 and even the Vanguard tests made for some pretty amusing footage. With time these evolved into the Redstone and Atlas rockets which were very workable pieces of kit. Sinking dictators have a distressing track record of lashing out at everyone around them, both internally, and externally. Let's hope that if the time comes N. Korea has a Rommel or even a Beria who can pull the plug (successfully) on the head nutbar.

Kate is a political pornographer, like Anne Coulter.

Like any pornographer, or any vendor who feeds any addiction, she sells hits of feeling for those too fucked up to experience it without artificial assistance. In Kate’s case, she sells indignation, anger, rage…call it what you will. A quick shot of adrenaline with a coating of ideological virtue to convince you that your addiction is actually some kind of positive thing.

And like any dealer, she understands that the hits need to get stronger and stronger. In the last two months she and her Coalition of the Witless have moved into a level of anti-rational viciousness that is beyond parody. Check out the recent threads on Caledonia for some of the most naked racism commited to public scrutiny since the heyday of Die Voelkische Beobachter.

She is a horror.

seems this commentator was spot on. you're really quite pathetic dear. i probably should have waited longer for you to ban me but i've had enough of you and your kind. enjoy yourslves.

Always amazes me that the nastiest gliberal commments come from those with no e-mail/blog response link.

Dear davidson, insert balls here => (__)

(__) Still empty huh? That's what I figured...

Have a source for that quote, Davidson?

Dear Dipstick davidson:
Care to tell us who you are quoting? Or did you make it up all by yourself? Or did you cut and paste it from a comic book? Your last sentence is the only worthwhile part of your post and, with any luck, we've seen the last of you.

Ted said...

When I heard it failed in the first 35 or 40 seconds, I wondered if it had help. I know that on part the the missile defense system was a 747 that had a chemical laser that could burn through the skin of a missile. I don't know the range of it.
http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2006/07/anti-missile-technology.html

I suppose being a mindless whore for the lefty intellectual pimps who peddle victimization disguised as compassion, debachery disguised as inclusion, pandering disguised as respect and of course statism disguised as choice is preferable.

Syncro

Yeah!!! , like he's gone!
Go ahead and walk over to the door and swing it open and there's Davidson standing with his nose against the screen.

"What About Davidson"
Baby steps,.... keep your word.

That's what passes for elevated discourse at My Blahg.

Davidson don't waste your time

Most are beyond help

These nuts would love to see a nuclear war, like bush and his team are working on, limited Nuclear War. lol

Most of the countries don't give a shit what the White House says, they have no teeth anymore. They spent their load in Afghanistan and Iraq. They can't attack NK because then Iran has a million or two troops to send into Iraq. China(weapons systems) and Russia (new fighter jets) are supporting Iran. Britain would love to see Bush fall on his face that way they might be Number one in the world.

Who knows what foolishness goes on in the heads of Government?

US dollar lol Why do you think all the Smart moneys going to Gold, because OPEC is turning to the Euro. That means the dollars headed to the Basement. Korea wants Euros.

Hmmmmmm.... Tag Team Trolling....Where's the midget?

Syncro

I have to assume that davidson and the like simply suffer from a case of blog and traffic envy.

Warning: The N. Korean males **** on their monuments, too? Sacre bleu... da poof is da poof and when it's p ...-

"Koreans are not shy when it comes to basic needs, the guide forbid to take pictures of men taking a piss on the middle of the road, but there was no problem when it happened in the capital next to to a monument (look at the guy on the steps)"

Reporting From North Korea

One of my brothers stumbled across this web page by a Russian web designer who visited, and photographed, North Korea. The pictures, with his brief accounts, are riveting. This one is of the North Korean countryside. Those are oxen, I think; click to enlarge:
...
This one shows some government architecture and statues. The photograper, Artemii Lebedev, writes:

The plaster statues are clean and not broken apart. North Korea is a perfect reproduction of the year 1950. ...- via powerline
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=82755

To those who say the US military is overstretched. I say, sure, if you plan on occupying China.

But the US Air Force and Navy, unleashed, could flatten most of Europe and Asia.

And they wouldn't even have to have grim milestones of Army troop deaths.

I bet the Air Force and Navy types would just love to open up a can of whoop ass.

how exactly is this death ray laser supposed to work? wtf keeps it centred on a moving target from a distance of what, 50 miles? do you people have *any* idea how tiny wobbles from the servos keeping the laser gun tracking would cause the business end of the beam to jiggle wildly? and remember, the missile is going sonic very soon.

also, does the beam burn thru the metal that fast? what is the burn rate of laser vs missile skin? and what about burning through the metal inside the skin? does it hit the fuel and ignite it? or get lucky *every* time and hit the guidance electronics?

hellllooooo!!!! lasers from surface ships or submarimes are going to need really really calm water to steady the beam. not gonna happen !!!

or 1000s of them to make sure youve got one good and close to the missile's position. not gonna happen !!!

to many questions here to believe anything happened other then the expected first try screwups.

laser shcmaser.

on the other hand if n korea ever did let loose a taepo tidy-bowl dong at the mainland, they would be incinerated by about 100 thermonukes, 'ask questions later' style very justified response.

Lets see... North Korea is firing off missles in order to get the evil Bush to pay attention to them. By steve duh's reasoning, that gangsta firing his (unregistered) handgun at people on the street is just a sign he feels ignored and wants recognition. give me a frikken break, eh.

Happy 4th to my neighbors here and in cyberspace.

I can't help wondering how many N.Korean technicians and scientists have already been executed for internationally embarrassing their leader...
Maybe some of our favorite trolls here should try speaking their minds in Iran,N.Korea or China before they trumpet their vile hatred of the US and her world stance to defend democracy.They certainly do not hesitate to reap the rewards of America's vigilance to defend our freedoms....all the while sticking knives in her....Et tu steve d?

It's amazing, what some people here don't know or haven't read.

North Korea's missiles aren't 'about' anything other than extortion: "We have missiles. Give us hard currency so we can eat or we blow something up." Like South Korea, maybe.

If the U.S. were as poor as Chile, and Canada was rich, they'd be aiming them at us. That short-dicked little leader of theirs is just a jumped-up convenience store holdup artist. A squinty little wanker.

Too bad he isn't threatening Israel -- he'd up like tomato paste before next week.

Of course NK's little game of international brinksmanship is bullshit. As others have pointed out, even if his flying phalic symbol had worked out it is no match for western weaponry.

What is of interest is the hand wringing and gnashing of teeth by western lefties who really just want to hug the little fellar.

Freedom through fear, peace through passivity, equality through egalitarianism.

Life is fair and balanced in utopia.

Syncro

CO
I don't see how NC setting off missles to get the US to take it seriously is a jab at the US?
All I did was point out that in all the world the only country that North Korea wants to have a non aggression pact with is the US. How does that knife the US????
I think you have to understand that there are certain geopolitical realities that exist seperately from me. Whether I comment or not the US is the worlds only superpower for now at least. They are economically and militarily miles ahead of everyone. That means they can bully and otherwise throw their weight around just like every other super power that ever existed. Superpowers get certain things with their dominance. Its not me, I simply point things out I don't invent them. Sometimes I will conclude or opine but so what everybody does.

If I say that the US can get away with invading pre-emptively while others can't does that mean I am picking on the US? No, it is merely a fact.
Shall we pretend that when the US throws its weight around everybody has to like it? Do you like everything your neighbour does? Because they are the centre of our worldly universe therefore they are constantly affecting everything by what they do or fail to do.

Texas canuk
If he were dangerous. If he had missles that actually were going to do damage he knows it would be an act of war. He does not want war. If he wanted war he would simply attack South Korea. He knows war would be suicide. He has a good gig. He doesn't want it to end. He needs lots of help to keep it going. The US wants regime change. They don't want to help. He can't get the US to come to the table and sign a pact. He thinks maybe if he caused a little commotion people in the neighbourhood would be alarmed enough to lobby the US to end the impasse. You got a better analysis?

Steved

As I pointed out at 8:41 and you ignored at 8:43 the U.S. has been willing to enter into multi-lateral talks.

At 12:39 you claim NK's whole aim is to enter into multi-lateral talks.

I pretty much think your analysis sucks slough water. Directly through yer ass.

But that's just me.

Syncro

Following circa 2004 (Of course, its not easy! Do ya really think nothing has been done since then?):

REACH OUT AND FRY SOMEONE: The Airborne Laser

Ronald Reagan often talked about Star Wars, but what looked improbable in the 80s is closer to reality today, with the Air Force's Airborne Laser -- - a sophisticated, powerful weapon that can take out enemy missiles in flight.

In 2003 the Air Force began testing a weapon with a range measured in hundreds of miles, accuracy measured in inches, a flight time measured in fractions of a second, and uses enough hydrogen peroxide with each shot to give every man and woman serving in the military blonde highlights. No, it's not an over-the-horizon blow dryer, but rather a potentially major component in America's Ballistic Missile defense: the Airborne Laser.

Housed inside a highly modified Boeing 747-400F cargo plane (which, incidentally, set a record in 1988 for the heaviest mass (405,659 kg) ever lifted by an aircraft) the mission of the ABL (designated by the Air Force as the YAL-1A) is simple: pick off enemy missiles in flight before they do any damage. The ABL cruises at 40,000 feet, looking for launch signatures from theater range (non-ICBM) ballistic missiles. Once a missile launch is detected, three lasers, directed by a dual-axis mirror housed in the aircraft's nose, paint the target. Once this critical information is collected, it is relayed to the mirrors that tune the primary laser. At that point, look out, as the megawatt-class COIL (Chemical Oxygen Iodine Laser) lets loose with a 1.315 micron (invisible to the naked eye) beam that heats and ruptures the pressurized fuel tank of the outbound missile. From start to finish the entire process is measured in seconds. Star Wars, indeed.

Airborne Laser Demonstration
A member of Team ABL -- - The U.S. Air Force, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and TRW -- - works on a scaled Laser Beam Control System built by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space, Sunnyvale, Calf., that demonstrates the functional performance needed for the Air Force's Airborne Laser (ABL) (Photo provided courtesy of Boeing).

Finding the Needle

Of course, if it were actually as easy as all that, the Air Force wouldn't need 2.1 billion dollars to develop the system. Suffice to say, the tasks to be accomplished are enormous.

The first step in shooting down a ballistic missile is to detect the launch of said missile. To accomplish this, the ABL will have an array of six long range Infrared Scan and Track (IRST) sensors (originally developed for use on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat interceptor in the 1970s) arranged around the aircraft to provide 360 degrees of coverage. Once a launch is detected and one or more of the IRST sensors has acquired the missile, data is fed to a modified Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) pod, which will in turn, use laser ranging to determine the three dimensional coordinates of the launched missile. Then the fun begins, as this information is fed to 2 low-power Track Illuminating Lasers (TILLs).

more at:
http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_ABL,,00.html

Ok North Koreas rocket technology sucks and they are as dumb as a bag of hammers when it comes to nuclear brinkmanship politics but, can they write National Health Care Policy or what.
Credit, where credit is due.

When I heard it failed in the first 35 or 40 seconds, I wondered if it had help. I know that on part the the missile defense system was a 747 that had a chemical laser that could burn through the skin of a missile. I don't know the range of it.

If your wondering that it had help led you to suspect that some American missile defence effort was at work, you're almost certainly mistaken.

The modified 747 of which you speak (the Airborne Laser or ABL) is *years* away from actually flying on operational missions. Not only do huge technical problems stand in the way, but the US has yet to develop anything like a serious Concept of Operations for this vehicle.

Nor are any of the other US missile defence assets likely to have been of any use in this instance: a failure during the first few minutes of flight (i.e. during the rocket's boost-phase) is unlikely to be the result of a collision with any of the interceptors based in Alaska and California, since those (so far unworkable) rockets are mid-course, not boost-phase weapons.

Furthermore, the sea-based Aegis missile defence system is not designed to intercept long-range missiles like the Taepodong-2, so it's quite unlikely a US Aegis-class ship had anything to do with this NK missile's failure at forty seconds into the boost-phase.

One final point to Kate, who, in titling her post 'Arone With My Rittre Skuds,' apparently found the fact that not all human languages share the same repertoire of phonemes to be a laff riot.

How's your Korean pronunciation, Kate? Or your Mandarin? Got the intonations down pat, have you?

Will we see you mocking Stephen Harper's French pronunciation in a post title anytime soon?

Or one of his francophone cabinet ministers' pronunciation of English?

Didn't think so.

Yep. That's the same health care policy as the LPC and the NDP.

Brilliant!!

Syncro

How about Jean Croutons pronunciation of anything,French or English?

LPC Motto

Da proof is da proof if it's proven to be a good proof, den it is proven!

Phenomes ar fun!!!

Syncro

Stephen is correct the flying 747 carrying blue spectrum type lasers is way off in the future; if at all workable. This stuff is still in the fantasy or 'wunder waffen' stage of development.

Without getting into a protracted and involved discussion of upper atmosphere physics this 'Star Wars Lite' is still the stuff of dreamscapes.

You need like several million watts of power to drive these types of lasers and then you need several of them to effectively cover the ICBM rocket path. With those kinds of power requirements you will need a nuclear power plant in space. The current stuff runs on huge batches of chemical reaction in a 747. Trouble is you need a sustained beam, so you're back to a nuclear power system; which if it burns up on reentry to the earth, carves a nice hole in the ozone as you 'liberally' distribute radioactive material all over the upper atmosphere.

The cure may be worse than the diseased minds who feel the need to threaten the use of nuclear weapons. Paranoia takes over and we can all talk to Jesus directly, no translator will be required.

The main problem with these blue ray laser wunder waffen is the beam dispersal over any significant distance upwards of 100km. To get a really effective laser weapon with rockets travelling intercontinental in about 10 - 15 minutes from lift off to impact the range should be in the 1000 to 3000 km range. After all with a live nuke you can't afford to miss.

Best bet scramble or flying at combat patrol F14 Tomcats loaded up with about 8 AIM 54 Phoenix missiles, range of about 100Km, and speed of 4800 kmph. You just need a couple of carrier groups to hang around the area of missile launch, which the US has already done.

Maybe a couple of Aegis ship to air missiles if you catch the launch early.

Failing that, pray hard.

Dont tell anyone but I just launched a Poontang 3 against North Korea. I think it got past the end of the block before it had "undisclosed technical difficulties."
Premature something or other...

Red Dodge is trying to have sex with Kim Jong Il?

This guy is not too attractive, and tends to go radioactive verbally, when he doesn't have one of his own lackey's to insult.

Seeing that your payload didn't make it past the end of the block, may I suggest a phone call to Kim Jong Il, as this has a better chance of getting through whatever grey matter the poor man has left.

If getting rid of gun control is supposed to make the people in Canada safer, therefore by using the same logic, getting rid of nuclear disarmament should make the people of the world safer. No more discrimination...nukes for everyone!!

trajectulation....

Hans... You're right..the tech doesn't exist in a functional way.....what does exist is the A stomp.

Never bring a knife to a gun fight.

Syncro

Iberia---Quite correct in a dysalexic sort of way!!

Syncro

Thats what the nice folks down the block said!
A "trajeculation" problem.
But hey,I just build em and light the fuse.What happens after they take off is someone elses problem.
But I gotta tell you that they were pretty good about that 3 foot crater in their front lawn.

They must be democrats.

Syncro

If it is true that these missiles are for sale then let's have the US buy them then roll them off the side of the ship halfway across the Pacific.

At least the U.S. will have casus belli this time.

WHo knows whether or not the Aegis system works....one day we'll find out. Perhaps that was the reason for the missle launches, perhaps that was the reason the US said "maybe we'd shoot them down, but then again maybe we won't try".

It could all be a big bluff, we'll never know till they actually get pushed to use it.

Great Leader looks likes he has a small embaressment that might cut into his arms sales. Small brand problem now.

Finally, the reference in Kate's post is to Kim Il Jong characterization in Team America....funny movie, skewers everybody, rent it if you havent seen it.

Idiots like stevie-DDude would have a different take on this if they actually had to live in the horror of North Korea.

It sure is easy to downplay the magnitude of an entire country as prison camp when you spew your nonsense spoiled, protected and comfortable in the west.

Its completely immoral for us or anyone else to be giving aid to that regime and prolonging one of the worse governments that has ever existed in the world.

All missiles, likely also including these NK jobs, carry small radio-activated detonation charges to destroy the thing if it has guidance problems. (Wouldn't want it to head for Pyongyang by mistake) Destruct signals would normally be sent in the boost phase, as after that the missile is ballistic.
I wonder if it was something as simple as the self-destruct signals being sent...from a US Navy AEGIS cruiser?
NK loses face big time, and they wouldn't even know with certainty why the missile failed.

*chuckle*

America's answer to NK problem is to send stevie duh over there as he knows what that raving loonie really wants unlike most of the free world.

Hey bright boy, the missles aren't for SK. Put yourself in tokyo for a sec and think about the crazy neighbour not so far away or is geography not required for lefties?

USA is the only superpower ergo it must be a bully. Brilliant!

"Finally, the reference in Kate's post is to Kim Il Jong characterization in Team America....funny movie, skewers everybody, rent it if you havent seen it."

Thankyou, Stephen.

A reminder to our linguists here that it's probably best to "click" before you speak.

Almost hate to bring this up, but anyone know the source of davidson's excrable quote?

The missile also could have been destroyed by the NK operators before it reached international airspace. Once it had achieved liftoff and begun stable accurate flight they may have had all the info they needed. Letting it proceed into international airspace and with a trajectory somewhat towards say, Japan the NK's would not be completely sure what the west's response would be.

The one thing that these guys seem to know how to do is provoke/agitate the west (and China) right up to the edge but no further. Detonating the missile on purpose is plausible when viewed in this context.

Does Aegis work? According to Reuters, on 2005-02-25:

"A missile fired from a U.S. Navy ship off Kauai, Hawaii, intercepted and destroyed a mock warhead on Thursday, the fifth success in six such test of the fledgling U.S. anti-missile shield's sea-based leg, the Pentagon announced.

"The target was tracked from the cruiser Lake Erie using the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Weapon System developed by Lockheed Martin Corp. It was launched from the U.S. Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands, Kauai. The ship fired a Standard Missile (SM)-3 at the target outside the earth's atmosphere during the descent phase of flight, Lockheed said. Raytheon Co. is developing the SM-3.

"The Defense Department plans to field up to 30 SM-3 missiles on Aegis-equipped ships by 2007 to destroy short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in mid-flight. Other systems are being developed to defend at different stages.

"For the ground-based mid-course leg of ballistic missile defense, managed for the Pentagon by Boeing Co., five of eight shoot down tests have been completed successfully."

Perhaps that's, why Space War magazine reported, on 2004-10-02:

"US destroyers equipped with Aegis missile tracking systems have been deployed in the Sea of Japan near North Korea as part of a controversial new US missile defense system, the Navy's civilian chief said Friday.

"We do have our Aegis destroyers deployed and indeed they do have tracking capability as we committed to do before the end of the year," Navy Secretary Gordon England told reporters."

Davidson's quote is from that foul toilet of a blog belonging to Jew-hating national socialist Robert McClellan. Don't bother going there, it's moronic, a hate site.

Craig Harris asked, "Almost hate to bring this up, but anyone know the source of davidson's excrable quote?"

Naw. davidson is a hit and run troll, but he says he's leaving the place where he hangs out under this bridge. GRTBR, I always say. Things are smelling better already.

But no surprise that anon at 10:09 a. m. this morning reports that it's a quote from RM's swamp, er, blog.

I have to admit that I am continuously astounded at steved. I keep maintaining that he isn't a troll, for in my view, a troll simply flings empty ungrounded opinions into the blog, and cycles off on his broken two-wheeler. For example, Neutralsam, Robert McLelland.

steved attempts an argument but he only provides his conclusions and he is so deeply ignorant of history, so ignorant of political theory, so illogical, so indifferent to facts - that I am continuously stunned by his posts. He seems to get his opinions from internet sites, which he doesn't analyze, leading to such astonishing conclusions of his as, for example, that fascism is aligned with corporate capital.

He writes, always, as if he knows exactly what various individuals think and want: Harper, Bush,Kim. He, of course, doesn't know but he informs us of their intentions, as if they were FACTS rather than merely his own personal OPINIONS.

We are now told by steved, that all Kim wants is a 'pact of non-aggression with the US'. How does steved know this? Is he privy to the innermost thoughts of this individual?

And the illogicality of it. Why should N.Korea want such a pact? Is it intending aggression against some country and therefore, wants to ensure that the USA won't step in to protect that country?

Furthermore, we are informed that N. Korea just 'wants help', presumably for its starving citizens. Then, why does it spend so much on its military rather than looking after its citizens?

I don't know why N. Korea is playing with missiles, but, in my view, it has nothing to do with wanting a 'non-aggression pact' - which would be akin to a mouse and an elephant coming to a mutual non-aggression pact. Besides, N. Korea and the US already have an agreement that the US has no intentions of invading (Check out the CIA website).

And, if N. Korea wants to enter the global world of economic trade, then, it has to enable its citizens to produce goods and services. Their economy is in a disastrous state. Famines have only been prevented by massive international aid.

N. Korea is in a dying mode; it can't support its population, it is fighting to live - and my guess is that these missiles are a way to show itself, that it is alive. No economy, no food, the ever-present threat of famine. That's its reality.

Davidson is no longer a troll. He's devolved into a gargoyle.

Hey Kate,

Do you think it possible to get some trolls with a bit more intelligence? This lot is pathetic.

For God's sakes man! Some of these twits are dumb.

And just cause I can't resist a snipe at NeuteredSam:

You accuse the right of wanting to start a nuc-a-ler (in W-speak) war causing nuc-a-ler winter. Well, I guess you're just jealous that the right has a workable plan to solve global warming and you don't... lol.

ya, you trolls out there, time to present a more viable challenging target!!

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also mr galt: years ago I sadly concluded that all food aid to n korea must stop even though it meant starvation to the most vulnerable.

the food was merely redirected to the n korean military, a subsidy if you will for the, as we now see, increasingly erratic behaviour of #1 nutbar kim jong il.

we have to face the short term suffering in order to push towards conditions that will see the ouster and assassination of kim jong by his own people. gawd I cant imagine the daily horror those people face.

Yup,

It's the nasty catch-22 of trying to oust a madman without using bombs. It usually ends up killing as many people as war would have.

Not that the left are smart enough to see it.

The left blames evil bushitler conspiracy theories in either case.

It's like in Iraq. If you whack them, you're a right-wing warmonger (insert "no war for oil" comment here.) If you sanction them you are still responsible for the actions of the dictator (and the corruption at the UN.) All of the dictator's deaths are America's fault. Even if the US has nothing at all to do with them. The oil-for-food was supposed to take care of Iraq's citizens. The money was stolen by Saddam and the UN and the UN let it happen and the citizens were allowed to die. But America is always to blame. The left blamed America for all the deaths (real and imagined) over the years of sanctions. Then when America ousted Saddam, the left blamed America of stealing oil and getting people killed. The left never said jack sh*t about the UN. They are such bastard hypocrites it makes me sick.

The left is so demented in their logic they can't be reasoned with. They have a mental disorder. They are a disease. They need a shot of something to cure them. I recommend cyanide...

I look forward to more defences of dictator's to be published. In this case it will be difficult to define as being a US installed puppet, or someone they sold arms to....

But of course it will be the fault of the US somehow that he is there, and that he is a victim and that if we only just spoke to him his people would be better off.

My advise would be to bomb North Korea with millions of cell phones, with text messaging.
Small portable computers as well, if not fax machines.

Send up a satellite dedicated to allow these prisoners in there own Nation access to the outside.

Once they see & learn about the real world. Than drop guns on the suffering populace, & see how long the Great Leader survives. These people are NOT Jihadists with a mission from the devil. It a Nation in the clutches of the Stockholm syndrome.

This would all be way cheaper than a war, by a long shot (O:}

From Strategy Page, 2005-01-18:

"North Korea is facing growing unrest propelled by uncontrolled movement of news via new cell phone networks. North Korea has always tightly controlled information. Radios must be manufactured so that they only receive government stations. Anyone found with a radio that can receive foreign stations is tossed into a labor camp, or worse. Few North Koreans have telephones, and fewer still have computers or Internet access. But several years ago, Chinese telephone companies began bringing cell phone service to areas along the North Korean border.

"At first, coverage was spotty. But a year ago, new transmission equipment was installed along the border, making it possible to use the Chinese cell phones all along the North Korean border. There has been government owned cell phone service inside North Korea since 2003, but it is expensive for foreigners ($1200 to get the phone, plus about a dollar to make a one minute call, and 25 cents to receive a call.) The government tightly controls who can have a North Korean cell phone, and it's assumed that the phones are tapped. The North Korean system is limited in its coverage. The system covers the highways running between Pyeongyang and Hyangsan, Pyeongyang and Gaeseong and Wonsan and Hamheung, as well as those cities themselves. The North Korean system was soon linked to the Chinese system. This was bowing to economic demands. China is North Korea's largest trading partner, and the source of oil and food assistance. It was North Korean officials working along the Chinese border who forced the issue on connecting the two nations cell phone networks.

"But now more powerful transmitters allow Chinese cell phones to pick up signals throughout North Korea. This means that the countryside, long completely cut off from anything outside North Korea, was getting news within minutes. Before the cell phones, rural areas often didn't get news about events in North Korea for weeks. That has all changed, and it [is] making North Koreans aware of what a mess their communist rulers have made. The government quickly picked up on this and made cell phones illegal (except in the hands of authorized officials) throughout much of the country. Hundreds of cell phones have been seized, but people have simply gotten much better at hiding them. Chinese cell phones are much cheaper to own and operate, and [are] preferred over the government issue ones. The growing number of refugees from North Korea, and unrest inside the country, is due in part to the increased use of cell phones.

"Many government officials are in a panic over this, because they have always tightly controlled the flow of information. The current generation of North Korean officials have no experience in a society that has free flow of information. They can't force the Chinese to turn off their cell phone service along the border, and many officials have become addicted to the convenience of cell phone use. It would appear that the North Korean dictatorship will end, not with a bang, but with a ring tone."

very nice, vitruvius. Strategy is exactly right. Once you open up communications, people will see what's going on for themselves. But imagine what life is like there - with all information tightly controlled. You really have no knowledge about the real world - outside or within N. Korea.

And, you don't realize that your Great Leader is an insane dictator, who is focusing the entire economy into a creating a huge wall around the country (the military acts as a wall). Meanwhile, the people are saved from famine only by the external world (of course they don't know that); their industrial infrastructure is in ruins (so they steal the trains!!) - and the West and S. Korea can only wait and wait, for them to fall.

The important phase, is the death of Kim. Will China or S. Korea move in?

I swear on a stack of bibles: way back in the early 80s my then business partner predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union for exactly that reason: communications technology. Best call I've ever personally witnessed. I could take you to the street, the block, the sidewalk square where his oracular proclamation was voiced. Hit me like a lighthing bolt. But of course!

Another good argument for free markets and unhampered global free trade.

Stephen has a problem with Kate's "Arone with my rittre skuds".

My dear fellow, get thee to a video store and rent "Team America: World Police", the satire from the creators of "South Park". She lifted the entire stanza from the movie.

Indeed, Kevin. Moreover, EBD nailed the reference when he strung together the letters "inevitribbre" at 7:44 PM yesterday.

Vitruvius...KevinB...return to base immediately for debriefing and cocktails!