N Korea 'could hit Guam' - LOL

[dArKeR]

Seoul - North Korea has allegedly developed a medium-range missile with a range of up to 4 000km, according to a South Korean newspaper report on Monday.

The missile would be capable of reaching the United States Pacific island of Guam, reported the conservative newspaper Chosun Ilbo..

The new rocket will reportedly be unveiled during Tuesday's National Day military parade in Pyongyang celebrating the 55th anniversary of the establishment of North Korea..

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1413078,00.html

Bush, Cheney and Rove are really desperate! I think the next headline on N. Korea wil be; 'N. Korea 'could hit Santa Claus'

[E_Zapata]

1. You do know we have a lot of soliders on guam, right?

.........

[dArKeR]

2. Last time I was there not many at all. Then I read they almost shut

down completely. Anderson AFB was closed, wasn't it?

Also had a lot of hotels build up for Japanese tourism. Really great reef.

[rooboy]

3. Might be a good time to think about closing the Empire down... n/t

[tlb]

5. Anderson AFB was quite active in the air routes to the ME

and the USN Forces Marianas base is homeport to 4 SSNs in addition to its other roles.

I don't know the numbers of Americans at risk but if they are in missile range, I don't think I'd laugh at someone for pointing this out.

[Sick of Bullshit]

4. Yeah, right

Lots of targets closer to home, and they're going to be aiming for a little blip way out in the middle of the Pacific? I don't think so.

[rooboy]

6. It could be worse...

there could be 30,000 - 40,000 troops stationed a lot closer, like in South Korea. :eyes:

[tweekinnow]

7. Today Guam

Tomorrow Dutch Harbor-- think of it! What a crock.Looks like another trial ballon *LieUp* to war.

[punpirate]

8. Well, this is interesting....

Someone seems to be reaching for any vaguely US territory within that range. The difference between Guam and Seoul is about 2000 miles, about 3200 km.

It was a stretch, even with an over-the-pole route, for NK's 4K km range missile to hit western Alaska, and impossible to hit southern California, so it sounds as if someone is stretching the hypothetical truth to its breaking point....

Anyone ask if there are _any_ significant American strategic targets on Guam? Yeah, there's an air base there, but it's not exactly the Pentagon, or Los Angeles.

Moreover, would NK strike Guam in order to convince the US to leave it alone? Very doubtful. That would prompt a strike which NK could not even contemplate, and for a strategically meaningless attack.

More baloney, cut from a big slab of it, which at present is sitting on Rumsfeld's Pentagon desk, taking up space.

On edit, let's review what this news release means. Is it meant to scare us, or the North Koreans?

If you asked 100 Americans at random, could they tell you a) where Guam is, b) what its connection to the US is, or c) are there any important strategic targets there?

Nope. They couldn't. But, hey, it's in the news, right? Goddamn, this is grasping at straws to reinforce the belief that the missile defense system is necessary and important.

Given that, where is the missile defense system being installed? Guam, or Alaska?

I rest my case.

On further edit, oh, silly, stupid me... this is about the _naval_ based missile defense system, because the navy has sort of fucked up their side of the ship-based missile defense system. The only way Guam can be defended is with _ship_ based systems.

Cheers.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. A little clarification

A missile headed for western Alaska from NK would be going way off course if it took an over-the-pole route-- the most direct route would take a missile over the Kamchatka Peninsula, or the northern Kurils. Other than that, I agree with your assessment.

Cheers

[tsipple]

9. Is Guam Home to Tom Delay's Sweatshops?

Or am I thinking of some other Pacific island group?

[Art_from_Ark]

11. I think that's Saipan you're thinking about

Googling "Saipan", "Delay" and "sweatshop" will turn up lots of links.

Cheers:hi:

[tsipple]

15. Ah, You See My Point...

I guess I'm an ignurent Amerikan. :-) ("Launch a missile at Guam? Where's that? France?") :evilgrin:

[KamaAina]

16. Saipan, just north of Guam, is a U.S. commonwealth

Presumbaly the pointy-nosed NK missiles could also hit the sweatshops, then.

Until recently, they had a sweet deal whereby they got to use the ""Made in U.S.A." label, while maintaining their own immigration (lax) and wage (dirt cheap) policies.

Now the labels have to read "Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands". (Guam is the southernmost in the chain and is a separate territory). Wonder how that one got by The Exterminator...

Now that you mention it, I do seem to recall Bugboy saying things like "I view the Marianas as my own Galapagos Islands" (to promulgate his brand of conservatism :puke: :puke: :puke: )

Oh, by the way, our agency maintains offices on both Guam and Saipan. Those are my colleagues potentially getting crisped. So, please, no snickering...

[jayfish]

12. Traveling The Distance Required To Reach Guam Is One Thing,...

actually coming anywhere close to hitting thhe island is an entirely different thing all together.

Jay

[Capt_Nemo]

13. This is Tony Blair's "Saddam could hit..."

"... british base in Cyprus" bullshit recycled...

[On the Road]

14. Or Reagan's:

Nicaraguan planes could attack Brownsville, TX.

[radfringe]

17. North Korea has already said that

they would/might do a nuke test...

anywhoooooo, if NK were serious about starting a shooting war, all they would have to do is to lob one at Japan

part of the WW-2 agreement was that Japan would have no standing army, and we would protect them from all aggressors...

that said, yes I agree someone is desparately grasping at straws to divert attention away from the whistleass mess in Iraq and get the people good and scared again