North Korea Rocket Can Hit U.S., CIA Says

North Korea Forum

North Korea has an untested ballistic missile capable of reaching the western United States, intelligence officials said Wednesday.

The North Korean missile is a three-stage version of the Taepo Dong 2, said Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

It has not been flight-tested, Jacoby said, leaving some questions about the North Korea's capability to successfully launch the missile.

CIA Director George J. Tenet, who joined Jacoby in briefing the Senate Armed Services Committee, also acknowledged the North Koreans have the capability to reach the western United States with a long-range missile.

Previous U.S. intelligence reports have said such a missile probably could carry a nuclear weapon-sized payload across the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, the U.N. nuclear agency raised the stakes in the standoff with North Korea, reporting the reclusive communist government to the Security Council for violating its international obligations.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors made the decision - a last resort after months of intransigence by Pyongyang - in an emergency session at the agency's headquarters in Vienna.

Russia and Cuba abstained from the vote, which sets the stage for possible sanctions against Pyongyang.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said he was unfamiliar with the testimony but said: "Technology and time means regimes like North Korea will increasingly have the ability to strike at the United States."

He said that is why President Bush supports building an anti-missile shield.

"We do have concerns ... about North Korea's missile development programs," Fleischer told reporters.

The revelation was certain to raise questions about Bush's priorities - and whether North Korea or Iraq pose a greater threat to the United States. Baghdad does not possess weapons that can strike America, officials have said.

"They are both important priorities," Fleischer said. "The question is, what are the means best used to deal with each priority."

He said diplomacy has failed to curb Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction program for more than a decade, thus Bush made military action a front-and-center option. "That's not the case with North Korea," Fleischer said, saying Bush believes diplomatic pressure can contain North Korea.

Tenet said North Korea probably has one or two nuclear weapons.

An unclassified U.S. intelligence estimate, released by CIA officials in December 2001, said the three-stage Taepo Dong 2 missile was probably close to being ready for flight testing.

But North Korea has held to a voluntary moratorium on flight tests of its long-range missiles, although officials in Pyongyang likely will conduct new tests.

The 2001 U.S. government report said a three-stage Taepo Dong could deliver a several-hundred-pound payload from North Korea to targets about 9,300 miles distant - sufficient to strike all of North America.

A two-stage Taepo Dong 2, which would be easier to use successfully, may be able to reach Alaska or Hawaii, it said.

In 1998, the North Koreans attempted to put a satellite into orbit with the launch of a three-stage version of the earlier model of the Taepo Dong. It failed when the third stage did not ignite.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, appearing before the House International Relations Committee, said the United States is pressing China to use its leverage with North Korea to persuade it to end its nuclear program. China is the main supplier of foreign assistance and energy aid to North Korea.

"We are doing everything we can to persuade the Chinese that the problem in North Korea is not just a problem between North and the United States. It is between North Korea and the region and North Korea and the world," he said.

The LA Times and Washington Post mention that CIA director George Tenet said during congressional testimony yesterday that North Korea has a missile capable hitting of the U.S. mainland. Most of the papers mention that U.S. intel estimates have warned about that possibility before. And the LAT quotes some experts saying Tenet was over-playing Pyongyang's capabilities. For one thing, it's not clear that the missiles can carry nukes. Also they're so inaccurate, said one analyst, "if they aimed for the United States, they might hit South America."

At least they can't hit the east coast...lol

They have an untested ballistic missle that can reach the west coast... I say we put our OWN untested ABM missle launchers on the base at Kaua'i's west shore where they already have missle launch capabilities.. then with a launch detection, we can fire the interceptors from there and hit them before they're anywhere -close- to the mainland.

Actually it's not -totally- untested.. just not "fully" tested. I'd trust that more than I'd trust nothing.

If all of these losers everywhere in the world would have stopped crying, we would have had a satelitte up in space that would shoot down missles

Too bad Saddam wouldn't take the exile proposition that N. Korea has offered. Then we could squish two bugs under one foot.

Why are you americans so afraid? your military superiority is undisputable

If someone shot a nuke at you - would you have any fear?
They found a NK war head in ALASKA - not sure how it arrived though.

Warhead in alaska? when/where? news links, please..

Crude....I'll try to find it again - this was over a month ago...

They have already threatened one. The threat just isn't great enough as of yet.