that'd be a hell of a fusion ticket, one wants to keep islands right side up & the other wants to sink them. the Israelis & Palestians might have more common ground than those twoKim / Johnson for the 2020 democratic party! No one is really talking about it but isnt the next winter olympics in Seoul? In February?
Are you just copying and pasting Digg comments??
There's so much wrong there I am sure it's not a news paper.
We don't shoot down missiles because:
We get data from their launch and re-entry.
Missing is a chance and leads to us showing holes in allied protection
We might shoot down missiles:
To show we can.
To bolster allies confidence
To prevent Korean data gathering that will allow increased future range.
The idiocy of this statement is so far beyond what I can describe:
Bullshit.
Every other country gives formal notice of missile launches and flight paths to prevent war. That's how you launch missiles as "not a threat" and to avoid having them shot down.
Launching a missile towards Japan and the US while stating a goal of sinking Japan and bombing the US is a threat to both.
You have a VERY narrow window to attempt a missile intercept and you don't get to wait to see "if it's real this time".
No other country has the ability to do so except where we provided our launchers.
Revisiting this idiocy. What is a sense of threat that isn't a threat?
Besides it's bullshit. Korea is threatening and data gathering.
As tensions continue to ratchet up with North Korea, CNN has learned that the US is considering shooting down a North Korean ballistic missile even if it does not directly threaten the US or its allies.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Defense Secretary James Mattis said North Korea is "intentionally doing provocations that seem to press against the envelope for just how far can they push without going over some kind of a line in their minds that would make them vulnerable."
An official directly familiar with options planning within the Trump administration told CNN the question that now needs to be answered is whether North Korea's missile program has progressed to the level of being such an inherent threat that the Pentagon would recommend targeting a missile even if its trajectory did not indicate it would hit the US or its allies. The official declined to speak on the record because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The discussion of whether to shoot down a North Korean missile comes as US intelligence has assessed that North Korea's KN-17 (Hwasong 12) intermediate range ballistic missile has proven so successful in recent flight tests that Pyongyang now counts on it as part of its strategic deterrence against the US, according to a US official familiar with the latest intelligence analysis. Because the KN-17 appears to be successful, the official says the US has assessed that it is likely North Korea will turn back to additional testing of the KN-20 (aka Hwasong 14) intercontinental ballistic missile to see if they can improve its performance.
While US officials have long said the military maintains a full range of options for dealing with North Korea, the notion of shooting down a missile has largely centered on conducting an operation if the missile were to directly threaten the US or its allies. There has been particular concern since Kim Jong Un recently threatened the US territory of Guam.
On July 4, North Korea conducted its first test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which it claims could reach "anywhere in the world" and conducted a second test on July 28.
The idea of shooting down a missile even if it is not a direct threat is not new. But with two recently launched North Korean missiles flying over northern Japan, the potential for having to consider a shoot-down without a direct threat remains very real, according to one senior defense official.
President Donald Trump, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday, warned Kim Jong Un that he would not survive an attack by the United States: "The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime."
Members of the administration have repeatedly emphasized that a range of military options are on the table and Mattis said Monday that the US possess military options that would not put Seoul at risk of a North Korean counterattack with the potential to kill tens of thousands of civilians.
Asked at an off-camera briefing at the Pentagon if there are military options that would not put Seoul at "grave risk?" He answered: "Yes there are, but I will not go into details."
Mattis would not clarify if the options he was referring to are kinetic- meaning strikes using conventional weapons.
The Pentagon is looking at potential covert cyberattack options. But other non-kinetic options could include a show of force in the air or on land in the region or increasing the US military presence in the area by deploying more ships or troops.
He did confirm that he had discussed the option of putting tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, an idea rejected by South Korea's President last week. Several Pentagon officials say Mattis was not signaling that tactical nuclear weapons are likely to be placed in South Korea.
And the situation remains tense with Mattis stating: "I believe that there is always the potential for miscalculation by the DPRK leader."
With @Saint Enock Revelation about this budget this morning followed by this. I have to say I think some shit is gonna go down
The Saudis? I thought they were also illuminati.They are ramping up to finally go for the kill, taking out North Korea, Iran and finally Saudi Arabia
Where did you get that information from?The Saudis? I thought they were also illuminati.
Despite U.N. sanctions meant to cripple the North Korean economy, ships from the rogue nation earlier this year reportedly left Russian ports carrying fuel as cargo and headed back to their home country instead of to their listed destinations, China and South Korea, according to a Reuters analysis of ship data.
The data showed at least eight North Korean ships traveled to the Russian port of Vladivostok and claimed they were then heading to their two closest neighbors. Instead, those vessels went off to one of four North Korean ports: Chongjin, Hungnam, Kimchaek or Najin.
The ships, including one named the Ma Du San, were carrying between 545 and 2,000 metric tonnes of cargo. That vessel is owned by Korean Kyongun Shipping Co., a North Korea company, and in May it took on fuel from a refinery owned by a Russian company, Independent Petroleum, Khabarovksiy NPZ, according to the report. The Ma Du San claimed it was heading to China, but eventually wound up a North Korean port. Reuters reported that there were Treasury Department sanctions orders and a United States government legal complaint regarding such shipments, but the ship was not named.
Indeed, Treasury placed Independent Petroleum on its sanctions blacklist in June, while two Singapore-based companies were listed in the legal complaint and accused of laundering money for sanctioned North Korean banks trying to purchase oil, according to Reuters.
The practice is quite common for the North, and the report said no wrongdoing was found.
However, it does show the North is using alternate means to acquire fuel and oil in the face of United Nations sanctions.
Trump seemingly alluded to sanctions placed on the North when he tweeted Sunday about “long gas lines” forming there, though it remains unclear if the newest sanctions issued by the U.N. have led to a significant shortage. Reports indicate that fuel costs have risen, but the Associated Press reported in April that a shortage could have started then, and one expert said it is possible Beijing had cut off supplies to its close trading partner.
Based on that report, China may already be exerting pressure on the North. Trump praised both Beijing and Moscow during his speech at the U.N. General Assembly Tuesday for their votes on adding sanctions on Kim’s regime earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Putin condemned the North’s recent nuclear and missile tests but essentially said that sanctions would do nothing and that the totalitarian government would allow its people to “eat grass” rather than give up its defense programs.
Still, Trump has yet to call out fellow nuclear superpower Russia in reference to the North. Putin even wrote in a letter released earlier this month that said pressuring the North was “misguided and futile,” after Trump had said “all options” were on the table.
It won't happen again. Can I at least watch Rachel Maddow? She's so fine.Where did you get that information from?
You been watching CNN again?
That Macron Trump relationship seemingly growing increasingly strong is totally unexpected to me.I was told Trump didn't know how to do diplomacy
China banks reportedly to halt business with North Korea as South Korea sends $8 million
France's Macron says Iran nuke deal not enough, defends it nonetheless
They're both former businessmen with weird sexual fetishes.That Macron Trump relationship seemingly growing increasingly strong is totally unexpected to me.
@Readily Formed Voltron loves that dude and Macron invented himself as the "anti-trump" to put himself in a spotlight near Merkel in Europe. But then...here we are.
Trump praises Macron, considers July 4 military parade like one he saw in Paris
Damn internet and it's crazy exaggerations.the internet says he's 6'7" but he looked at least 6'8".