America Activates Missile Defense

WASHINGTON – America has activated its multibillion-dollar missile defense shield for the first time, as concern mounts that North Korea is preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile.With a typical blast of fiery rhetoric, the Marxist regime suggested it had no intention of backing down over what would be its most bellicose step in eight years, saying it was not bound by a four-year moratorium on missile tests.The news that the Pentagon had switched its missile interceptor system from test mode to operational overshadowed President Bush’s departure for today’s American-European Union summit in Vienna, Austria.The alarm stems from satellite pictures that suggest North Korea has finished fueling a new version of the Taepodong missile. It is believed to have a range of up to 9,300 miles, enabling it, in theory, to reach Alaska or the West Coast, although it is unclear if it can be launched that far.Pentagon officials refused to say whether they would try to shoot down a North Korean missile, but they and State Department officials have made clear that they would regard the test as deliberately provocative.“It’s good to be ready,” an American defense official told Reuters. “There’s real caution in how to characterize it [the decision to activate the system] so as not to be provocative in our own approach.”Michael Kucharek, a spokesman for U.S. Northern Command, would not comment on the status of the missile defense system. “As the command tasked with homeland defense, we are prepared to do what is necessary to defend this nation on land, sea, air, and in space,” he said.A missile defense shield has been a dream of “hawks” in America for years, dating back to President Reagan’s space-based “Star Wars” plan in the 1980s. The new American ground-based system relies on advanced radar networks dotted around the world detecting an incoming missile and then an interceptor missile shooting it down.Tests of the system have had mixed results and sparked widespread opposition, particularly in Europe, where its advocates have been accused of sparking an unnecessary arms race.In eight tests the mock incoming missile has been hit five times. The tests went on hold last year when interceptors did not leave their silos as intended.Bush administration officials, however, have argued that it is an essential line of defense, particularly in the post-September 11 era when Islamist terrorist groups are seeking to wreak destruction on America.Mr. Bush can be expected to make that point forcefully today at the summit in Vienna, where it appears that North Korea may take the attention away from that other American villain, Iran.On the 15th visit to Europe of his presidency, Mr. Bush is hoping to overcome widespread European skepticism about his foreign policy and rally the E.U. to maintain the pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.On the eve of his departure he indicated that America’s patience was rapidly running out as the world waited for Tehran’s response to an offer of “incentives” in return for a suspension of its uranium enrichment program.As part of the offer, the Bush administration has agreed to join negotiations with Iran over its nuclear ambitions, marking the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution that Washington had offered formal talks with Iran. He said earlier this month, however, that Iran had weeks not months to respond to the overture.The launch of a Taepodong-2 missile by North Korea would spark an international crisis in East Asia, upsetting the delicate regional balance of power.Japan has said that it would consider sanctions and pressing the U.N. Security Council to take retaliatory action.The last time Pyongyang sparked such alarm was in 1998 when it fired a missile over northern Japan into the Pacific, proving its ability to hit Tokyo.S ince 1999 there has been an unofficial regional moratorium on missile launches, which was formalized in 2002 and then reaffirmed by Pyongyang two years ago.But North Korea poured scorn on the moratorium yesterday. “The issue concerns our autonomy. Nobody has a right to slander that right,” a North Korean official told Japanese journalists.

America Activates Missile Defense

America Activates Missile Defense

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