N. Korea fires 3, possibly 4 missles.

[kcredden]

According to CNN (http://www.cnn.com/), North Korea has fired 3, possibly 4 missiles, one a long-range one, that the U.S. has been watching, and being concerned with. The Taepodong-2 missile, is capiable of reaching Alaska.

According to sources, the missiles all failed (I've heard around 50 seconds), in their first stages of flight, and posed no danger to the U.S. The others, was fired toward Japan, but like the Taepodong-2, died before going far enough to be successful.

Edit: As of 7:00p EST, there has been now five confirmed missile launches now, a possible sixth one is still alledged. Keep your eyes open.

Souces:

CNN (http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/07/04/korea.missile/index.html)
BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5148648.stm)
ABCNews (http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=2153034)
New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-NKorea-Missile.html?hp&ex=1152072000&en=76987bd7e71541c9&ei=5094&partner=homepage)
Kyodo News (http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=257434) (Japan's english news web site)
(I couldn't find any big-name Alaska newspapers/news sites.)

[tkcomer]

Bad, bad, regime. How dare they go against our politician’s wishes. Just like I thought. And a dud at that. Just goes to show you how much weight we carry in the world. Wonder what our cowardly congress will do now? Other than to rant and point their fingers.

[kcredden]

Probably Bush will authorize a tax cut or more trade to China, in order to get them on our side. Instead of cutting trade (or threating too), in order to pull China closer to us, and away from N. Korea. But we are just dreaming. Congress won't do anything against their big-business buddies, if it hurts them.

Bad, bad, regime. How dare they go against our politician’s wishes. Just like I thought. And a dud at that. Just goes to show you how much weight we carry in the world. Wonder what our cowardly congress will do now? Other than to rant and point their fingers.

[Foxy]

OMG... forget that it didn't make it... what if it had?!!
And what was the intended target, and what if they all are not duds?!!!

[Chuck]

You can tell by satellite if they are live or not. Missiles not fires properly or controlled properly can cause an accidental death by hitting an accidental target.

They say they want the rockets to launch satellites not nukes. "The Taepodong-2 missile, is capable of reaching Alaska." doesn't say that they did fire it at Alaska only that it is "capable".

Plan on more test fires from them in the future. This is not done or over.

My attitude is not to trust either side in the argument and work on a fix before the next launch. There has to be a solution that doesn't involve killing everybody on the planet.

[acoolmom777]

grrrrrrrr.....points her finger at "tk"
and
gives "kc" a shove and tells him China isn't dumb, they do want to hurts us their trade buddy...hummmmm

[tkcomer]

It’s not so much that China wants to hurt us. It’s that they are now a small super power. Their economic engine is growing by leaps and bounds. Their military is still a little crude, but they make up for that with overwhelming manpower. And no hesitancy to sacrifice them if need be. They fought us to a draw in one country and ran us out of another. Before they got the bomb. They can hit anywhere in the world with their ballistic missiles. They have maneuvered themselves into a position that we are now depending on them. For products and to keep our economy going. They have turned into a huge bank that loans our government money to help keep it afloat. They can turn off our economy in a heartbeat if they wanted. Now then, do you think a country in that position is going to take any lip from us? They look at us as a declining superpower. Heck, we can’t even clothe or feed ourselves anymore. We are in debt up to our necks. We are no longer in any position to tell them what to do. They are in a better position to tell us what to do, but so far they haven’t. They HAVE warned us on a few things, and we have heeded those warnings. Me thinks they are letting “Lil” Kim fire his missiles to see what we will do. I’m betting not much.

[Foxy]

Japan resolution would condemn N. Korea
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS - Japan said Wednesday it is considering sanctions against North Korea in a U.N. resolution that would condemn the reclusive communist nation's missile tests and call for a return to six-party talks on its nuclear program.

But China and Russia said they favor a weaker council statement without any threat of sanctions, positions that will make it very difficult for Japan and its key allies, the United States and Britain, to get tough measures.

Ambassadors from the 15 nations on the Security Council held an emergency meeting on a response to North Korea, which defied international appeals and conducted a series of missile launches. No draft resolution was introduced, but it was expected to be circulated later in the day when an initial discussion of council experts was scheduled.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the council must send a "strong and unanimous signal" that North Korea's missile test-launch was unacceptable.

After the meeting, he said that "no member defended what the North Koreans have done."

"I think there is support for sending a clear signal to Pyongyang," Bolton said, although he wouldn't comment on possible sanctions.

Council diplomats said Japan and the United States were still debating whether the resolution should include a demand that all countries ban the transfer of funds, material and technology that could be used in North Korea's missile program.

"It's too early to say what the outcome will be except to say there is an agreement in the council to act swiftly and resolutely," said France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, the current council president.

Japan's deputy U.N. ambassador Shinichi Kitaoka said his country — already in range of North Korean missiles — said before the meeting that "sanctions is probably included in our first proposal."

Afterward, Japanese Ambassador Kenzo Oshima said North Korea's "possible combination of nuclear weapons with missile development and testing" is unacceptable and requires "quick, strong action" by the Security Council.

Flanked by the U.S. and British ambassadors, he said possible sanctions against North Korea "may be discussed, but that, of course, is up to the council."

"Clearly, I think whatever response will have to say clear and strong condemnation of the missile launches, and it should also mention very deep concerns of the international community over the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Oshima said.

Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya called the launches regrettable but indicated that Beijing, the North's closest ally and a veto-wielding council member, favored a weaker council statement.

So did Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who said that while "a strong and clear message is needed to North Korea," the goal should be a resumption of six-party talks, which have been suspended since September, and a diplomatic solution.

"I frankly do not expect anybody would be proposing any sanctions," he said.

The resolution is expected to call for action under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which is militarily enforceable, several U.N. diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the draft has not yet been circulated.

British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said he expects a quick, united and robust response by the council.

"It's a provocative action," he said. "We condemn it. We very much hope that North Korea will come back to a moratorium, back to the six-power talks, and we will be supporting a resolution put down by Japan and the United States."

China's Wang expressed concern at the missile tests, but left far more ambiguity about how much council action would be acceptable to China.

"Certainly I think this is not the first time the Security Council takes action on this particular issue, because we had a precedent in 1998. So if all council members feel that some appropriate action is needed by the council, then we will see," he said.

In September 1998, following North Korea's launch of a satellite that the State Department initially believed was a missile test, the council approved only a press statement — which does not even become part of its official record.

It urged Pyongyang not to launch another satellite or other object without warning, and said neighboring countries should refrain from retaliatory action.

Wang stressed the importance of constructive actions to maintain peace.

The seven missiles fired by North Korea all apparently fell harmlessly into the Sea of Japan, but the tests provoked international condemnation and calls in Japan for economic sanctions.

North Korea remained defiant, with one official arguing it had the right to such launches.

North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Pak Gil Yon refused to talk to reporters Wednesday when he arrived at his country's U.N. mission, shielding himself with a large black umbrella against the rain and the media barrage.

[tkcomer]

Wow. We waved our finger really hard this time. But unless China and Russia support us, we might as well stick that finger in our mouth and chew on our nail.

[lone wolf]

For what it's worth, I hope the nations agree to tough sanctions, if not cutting North Korea off fully. China may be backing Korea, but their not stupid. They might wave their arms and shout at the United Nations, but I don't think they're willing to waste millions of their people, ravage their land and be part of world destruction.

As far as China pulling the plug on our funds, let them. I believe that our nation has survived a depression before. I believe that when Japan attacked the U.S. in 1941, that you saw a nation pull itself up and rise above the situation. I believe that we can and would do that again if needed. So TK, I say the heck with China and take care of business. According to what I read from Foxy's input, it's not only the U.S. concerned about Korea's actions.

Yes we've wasted several generations of the nations brightest in wars that have proven both good and bad. But the spirit in which they fought cannot be overlooked. So TK, as a veteran of one of those so-called senseless wars, I still haven't lost my zest for doing what is right.

As far as China being a super power, yeah they might be considered that, but they fail to use their resources for the improvement of mankind. The civil rights in that country are worse than anywhere on this planet. They've been pointed out for this several times, so lets lay the cards on the table and quite beating around the bush. Let's deal with North Korea as it's called for, do what's right, snap the little bugger by his neck and yank him inline. If big brother(China)wants a taste, then deal with him also. You can't let Korea get by with what they're attempting to do.

[tkcomer]

For one thing, I still think “Lil” Kim is out to get money from us. He is not suicidal. He can read. He knows all about our underhanded dealings with brutal dictators. And how we shower them with money to do what we want. And most of the times, it comes back to haunt us. Horribly. That’s something the vast majority of citizens in this country don’t know. We’re way to busy reading the sports page. Not what our own government is up to. The soldiers take an oath to protect THIS land if we are attacked. They should NEVER be sent out to fight and die in another land because of our government’s underhanded dealings have lead to disaster. We’ve showered ‘Lil” Kim with gifts back in the 90s to get him to stop building bombs. That went over well. But we also gave most favored trade status to China back then. The country that was keeping North Korea afloat. We’ve created this mess. And the people in this country have no clue that we did. They have not one clue that the United States created this crisis and is now calling on the world to help them get out. Our soldiers are fighting and dying in two foreign lands because of stupid, arrogant mistakes our politicians made. We supported Saddam and Bin Lauden. Look what that got us. China’s military has been growing by leaps and bounds with our money. They have been keeping North Korea alive with our money. We’ve allowed our economy to become horribly dependent on a dictatorship. The real danger is not North Korea. It’s who’s backing them. We could wipe North Korea off the map in a few weeks. We can’t do that with China. China is almost in position to bankrupt us. And a bankrupt government can’t pay soldiers or contractors. And the sad part is, we the people allowed this to happen. Because we are too narrow minded to see the big picture.