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North Korean Missile Found In
Alaska A recent report that a long-range missile fired from North Korea turned up in Alaska should make Americans reevaluate committing to a war with Iraq. Exclusive
To American Free Press By Mike
Blair The Bush administration is ignoring reports from South Korea
and Japan that the North Koreans have test-fired a nuclear-capable,
intercontinental ballistic missile, which landed in or near the state of
Alaska. The White House has not commented on a report in The Korea Times that the
warhead of a �long-range missile test-fired by North Korea was found in the
state of Alaska.� The discovery of the missile warhead was reported to South Korea�s
National Assembly and was culled from �a U.S. (presumably intelligence)
document,� the paper said. If the report is accurate, the warhead could be from a North Korean
three-stage Taepo Dong 3 ICBM, which is, according to U.S. intelligence sources,
capable of striking targets about 9,300 miles
away. Officially, as previously reported by American Free Press, the Pentagon
admits that North Korea has only a two-stage Taepo Dong 2 missile, which CIA
Director George J. Tenet indicates is capable of striking the U.S. West Coast,
while the Taepo Dong 3 can strike targets anywhere in North
America. In the report to the National Assembly, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro
Nakayama was quoted as saying �Washington, as well as Tokyo, has so far
underrated Pyongyang�s missile
capabilities.� According to a retired Air Force intelligence officer, long assigned to
the top-secret National Security Agency and to South Korea to work on radar
defenses, the finding of the warhead in Alaska would indicate that the North
Korean missile would have been tracked to where it landed by U.S. radar which
constantly screens the sky as part of America�s air defense
system. �It would appear,� the retired officer said, �that the Pentagon is
keeping a real tight lid on this one and I am amazed that the U.S. press has not
picked up on a story appearing in a prominent South Korean paper and reported
before South Korea�s National Assembly.� All that the Pentagon is commenting on is that North Korea has tested in
recent days two short-range anti-ship missiles, which White House spokesmen have
said is �not surprising� and insists there is no cause for particular
concern. However, officials are ignoring the fact that North Korean anti-ship
missiles could target U.S., Japanese and South Korean warships operating in the
area, including a U.S. carrier battle group which has been sent to the region as
a result of Pyongyang�s saber-rattling. The missile hitting Alaska is (of course) not the first time in recent
history an enemy nation�s weapon has struck the continental United
States. During World War II hundreds of Japanese barometrically controlled
balloons, which carried explosive and incendiary devices, landed in the
Northwest and elsewhere after being released from the Japanese coast. One
balloon traveled as far east as Michigan. It is reported that some Japanese balloon weapons were to have been laden
with biological weapons. But except for starting some forest fires and killing a small number of
people who came upon one explosive balloon and accidentally detonated it, the
Japanese balloon devices never became a serious threat.
Japan attacked the U.S. mainland twice with sub marine-launched
floatplanes, setting more forest fires. The North Koreans� missile and nuclear weapons programs do present a
serious threat, according to military
experts. In fact, a recent poll on CNN�s web site indicated that Americans are
more fearful of North Korea than they are of Iraq, where a major war is
looming. Rep. Steven Kirk (R-Ill.) said the U.S. government might have to bomb the
North Korean nuclear complex, located north of Pyongyang, should North Korea try
to export nuclear material to other countries.
A March 5 article in The Anchorage Daily News downplayed the South Korean
report, quoting Air Force Lt. Col. Rick Lehner, spokesman for the Missile
Defense Agency. Lehner told the Alaskan newspaper that the report probably referred to a
three-stage missile tested by North Korea in
1998. �[The missile] splashed in the water hundreds of miles from Alaska,� Lehner said. �I�ve never heard of any piece of a missile landing in Alaska from that test or any other test.� |
