Just when Hawaiians thought it was safe to come out of their bomb shelters, the folks on the continental U.S. were given cause to look skyward.
MIT professor Theodore Postol and David Wright, a physicist at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), write in this week's Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that the long-range rocket North Korea launched on April 5th could be converted into a ballistic missile that can theoretically hit half the United States with a payload of one ton or more.
The "Unha-2" rocket, which was a disguised form of a ballistic missile is capable of flying over 6,700 kilometer. The rocket could fly even further -- over 10,000 kilometers -- if turned into a missile: "We estimate that it could have a range of 10,000-10,500 kilometers, allowing it to reach Alaska, Hawaii, and roughly half of the lower 48 states."
They end their scientific speculation on a positive note. If key Unha-2's components were acquired from Russia and elsewhere, they further speculate, then North Korea's domestic missile development program may be much more limited than commonly assumed.
Ok, so the Norks have some tough choices ahead: South Dakota or North Dakota or Ohio or...
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As an Ohioan I resent you grouping us with 2 states whose populations are decreasing (although they are quite beautiful). People in the east call us mid-west while I have heard people from the west call us mid-east (no pun intended). The reason is that we, a fellow member of the eastern time zone, are only an hour and a half flight from DC or New York but a 6 hour direct flight from LA. We are also geographically speaking thus not an option for the Norks although I'm sure if we were, they would kindly put us into consideration.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they would much rather send us a box of chocolates instead for putting their propaganda target Bush into office in 2004...
Our Man votes for Lake Mead (Meade?) in Utah. Place was packed with campers who wouldn't shut up while Our Young Man was trying to kip. "Never mind, I'll get up early and wake the bleeders up. Come the morning, though, they'd all buggered off back to Flagstaff or some place. But Our Man's not bitter.
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