Mismanagement, underestimation, and just plain cowardice have allowed North Korea to get to the point they have become a threat not only to U.S. Interests in the region, but to the nation itself. Starting with Bill Clinton’s lame attempts to bribe the starving nation with more than a billion dollars worth of food, to George Bush’s failure to act when Kim ignored UN sanctions and removed monitoring equipment from nuclear facilities. Even Obama, dropped the ball, being too afraid to take any action after Kim tested both nuclear bombs and ballistic missiles.
The question now is will President Trump do what is necessary, or will he also sit by while Kim mass produces missiles and bombs that can wreak havoc on the U.S. Mainland? According to testimony from the Defense Intelligence Agency on the findings of their first official US assessment of North Korea’s latest missile test that was given to a Senate committee says, North Korea is on a clear trajectory to obtaining a nuclear-armed missile that could hit the US.
DIA Director Lieutenant General Vincent Stewart and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee about worldwide threats on Tuesday, just two days after North Korea test-launched its Pukguksong-2 intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM). This finding was made despite American experts doubts the reliability of the new solid-fuel IRBM, as reported by Reuters.
Reuters reported that while solid fuel is harder to produce, it is more stable and can be transported in the missile allowing for a quicker launch time. Kim Jung-un has stated that the Norths goal is to develop a missile that can reach the U.S. And can be launched before any counter measures can be taken. Kim announced Sunday that the rocket used in the most recent test launch has the “tactical specifications and technical characteristics” of being capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
That test moved North Korea a step closer to its “inevitable” goal of developing a nuclear-armed warhead that could reach the US, Stewart said. “If left on its current trajectory the regime will ultimately succeed in fielding a nuclear-armed missile capable of threatening the United States homeland,” he told the senators. “While nearly impossible to predict when this capability will be operational, the North Korean regime is committed and is on a pathway where this capability is inevitable.”
The principal impediment to achieving that goal so far is ensuring that its ballistic missiles survive reentry into the atmosphere, according to Stewart. “They understand the physics, it’s just a matter of design,” he said. Sunday’s missile tests, along with the 2016 tests of more than a dozen theater ballistic missiles “highlight Pyongyang’s commitment to diversifying its missile forces and nuclear delivery options while strengthening missile force survivability,” Stewart said.
In his written testimony, Stewart said North Korea was “a critical security challenge” for the US “that is capable of posing a direct threat. North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program, public threats, defiance of the international community, confrontational military posturing, cyber activities, and potential for internal instability pose a complex and increasingly grave national security threat to the United States and its interests,” he wrote.
Dantheman