TOKYO (Reuters) - A North Korean missile launched on Wednesday was aimed at an area of the ocean close to Hawaii, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday.
Experts estimated the Taepodong-2 ballistic missile to have a range of up to 6,000 km, putting Alaska within its reach. Wednesday's launch apparently failed shortly after take-off and the missile landed in the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan, a few hundred kilometres from the launch pad.
But data from U.S. and Japanese Aegis radar-equipped destroyers and surveillance aircraft on the missile's angle of take-off and altitude indicated that it was heading for waters near Hawaii, the Sankei Shimbun reported, citing multiple sources in the United States and Japan.
North Korea may have targeted Hawaii to show the United States that it was capable of landing a missile there, or because it is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific fleet, the paper said.
Bush needs to get tough with North Korea. Now.
In 1998 North Korea fired a Taepdong-1 missile over Japan...and then-President Clinton reacted by sending our Sec. of Defense to Pyonagang for "talks" that resulted in the lifting of sanctions, the restoration of diplomatic ties and the delivery of two nuclear reactors that were ostensibly for power plants (though we know better now).
Do you think that if Clinton had responded to that missile firing by taking out a North Korean laucnh site or two that Kim Jong-Il would be playing the crazy game with us he's playing today? I don't think so.