If N. Korea Tests a Missile, Will the U.S. Shoot it Down?

Doubtful. What if they missed?

What I read is that if it is aimed at a country (S Korea, japan, or Guam) that the US will attempt to. But if it is projected to land in the ocean, then no.

But there is no guarantee that they will be successful in shooting it down. A missile is maybe 10 feet across, and that’s a very small target to try and destroy when it is moving thousands of miles per hour.

Keep in mind that the only country with any recent actual experience in shooting down missiles is Israel and their success rate is only around 60%.

Any such action would have to be done over sovereign territorial waters of S Korea or Japan, to do so over international waters would be piracy. We would not condone a shooting down of a rocket launched from Cape Canaveral or from Vandenberg AFB in California, even if shot down 200 miles at sea.

The yanks have their patriot missiles primed & aimed as we speak type.
Given their track record of taking out “friendlies” though, i’m going to predict a “fumble”.

How would you know? If the missile disintegrated or went off course for no apparent reason we would have no way of telling whether it was poor NK engineering or the clever application of directed energy.

They will take it out on the launch pad and be justified. The N Koreans have made threats to destroy somebody. It’s not anyone’s place to try to figure out if they were bluffing now.

@LuckyGuy , yep I like the way you think, but then again mayve I’ve been watching too much Eureka

@woodcutter – that’s actually a very good point.

Back when NK made their propaganda parade and rolled the missile through town, one allied weapons expert determined that, if the rocket was real (he made several deductions pointing to a probable fake), then it would need to be fueled on the platform prior to launching, making the most likely scenario such that opposing forces would destroy it before it left the ground.

@gambitking Here’s the deal. If there is a launch and it is allowed to leave their airspace and does kill people somewhere, it’s gonna look bad that more was not done to stop it. The fact that hell my rain down on NK after the fact won’t change that. I believe letting them launch now, after all the bluster would be a mistake. Maybe the N Koreans, think we think they are bluffing, and are expecting the US to do what they always do. We condemn their actions in front of everyone and that is that. The N Koreans have demonstrated they will preemptively attack when they want attention. I wonder if they have about run out of these.

The US is not going to fire on a missile before it is launched. This isn’t a Hollywood movie; the rest of the planet would not cheer such an act, they would be horrified by it.

They will continue to do what they have been doing: ignoring the little boy’s tantrums so that he can learn some manners. If there is a strike, then that will be answered.

@glacial Everyone wants to blame the US no matter what they do. You think things will be ok with people if they let this one fly and Japan is hit? Oh HELL no. The US will look like a do nothing, if not, the bad guy in all this.

I’m pretty sure that your president is wise enough to recognize that this is not about “how the US looks”. The US is not going to unilaterally choose to start something in North Korea.

@glacial lol Oh I’m quite sure the prez is not worried about that. If we shoot that thing off the ground there are going to be plenty in on it.

No, they will fire off a sternly worded message from the UN. beat their chests and, finally, provide them with food and fuel.

If they want to start WWIII yes, but why bother on the performance of previous launches it probably won’t work anyway!

They should close that place down, seeing they depend on others to feed them. If they lose more concessions each time they do this, sooner or later they will figure it out. lil Kim seems like a confident guy now doesn’t he?

Lets hope they are loud mouths only and wont do anything stupid like launching a rocket in America’s direction or in Japans direction.

I would like to see china slap Kims pee pee and handle this like a good step mother should.

I suspect your President is smart enough to avoid doing anything unnecessary to provoke
North Dakota Korea

As I said before it is a no win situation for the USA. If the do nothing except rhetoric and the spoiled brat actually launches and kills someone, then USA will be the bad guys for doing nothing. If the do something preemptively then they will be the bad guys for that. It is not easy to be the USA. Much easier to be some dinky little country with nothing but big mouths and nothing else who just look to the USA when they need help. Won’t be long though til we find out, he says the 10th is the day. Bush is being blamed now because supposedly he had advance notice of 9/11 and did not heed. The same will definitely be said of Obama if he sits in front of the class and reads while the missiles fire!

USA is the country the world loves to hate….

Till the shit hits the fan an they need us to save their bacon.

And have the gall to grumble about the methods used

And then we pay them off because they have their hands out waiting.because we do it that way every time

They all want a piece of our ass, just to say they got it.

@woodcutter

Wasn’t that part of Jack Nicholsons’ courtroom speech in “A few good men”?

@rojo I don’t know I never watched that one.

Actually, the quote is:

Jessup: You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom! You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives! You don’t want the truth, because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall! You need me on that wall! We use words like “honor”, “code”, “loyalty”. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline! I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I would rather you just said “Thank you,” and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to!
But you were close!

@rojo And as I recall, the point of the speech was that his judgment shouldn’t be questioned, nor his actions subject to the law, because… USA#1 or something. Sounds familiar.

@rojo Well Holy shit and….I’ll be damned. There are differences between what is real- what works, and the politically correct version of things that are hoped for but can not happen assuming we use real world methods and practices. The PC side wants, expects total fairness and justice for all and it all works out in the end with a perfect outcome. Only it seldom works out that way. Someone is gonna get screwed, some people are gonna die. Some perhaps who shouldn’t have. But the greater picture in the end is a sum of its parts and some of those parts are individuals with blood on their hands and deception in their hearts. Oh the stuff that goes on so that we all get to have computers and gasoline and fuel energy, all the things we have taken for granted including our freedom, and the right to complain about the process. We all have been spoiled by freedom so much we automatically and completely take it for granted. It was here when we were born…so it will be here forever just like the sun and stars and we will never have to do anything to maintain it. That was the fight some people fought a long time ago in the olden days ,so it’s a done deal, right?

NOT

This is not new. The dirty little processes that have been used since the beginning of mankind trudging this rock. If you want to win, just try playing nice, just try that, one time. That is how you lose. It ain’t good, it ain’t bad. It just is.

Time to quit playing patticake with the little shit and dust his ass.

We in Australia and South Africa are wondering about this with bated breath. My friend in Cape Town is going to Austin, TX and tells me that the N. Koreans have targeted that? Why Austin? what will happen? Will the US indeed shoot down a missile if it reaches any US territory? What will happen then? Is the :US not already involved in wars in the middle east? How can they afford another war??

If he targets Austin he won’t have to worry about a war with the US. He will have more than he can handle in his war with Texas.

The only thing is, and we are still working on it, that we are still perfecting the long range pickup truck that will reach NK.

I have to believe if NK does launch one and it become plain to the world there was an intentional target that China would do some of the punishing for us. Not going to look good if they sit on their hands. China more than anyone will not want a war next to them with the humanitarian crisis this would surely cause.

Good points @woodcutter

Been out most of the day, so has he done it yet? Last I heard his penis went limp and went back down inside the shooter. I will be sick if some weak knee negotiator blinked and promised to give them something to back him down.
There has been so much bluster from Lil Kim up to now that if he doesn’t do it he will look like a wuss in the eyes of everybody including his own people.