http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...2700500_pf.html
Rumsfeld Unsure of Ability To Intercept Korean Missiles
From News Services
Monday, August 28, 2006; A02
FORT GREELY, Alaska, Aug. 27 -- After his first look inside the nerve center of the U.S. missile defense system, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday sounded a note of caution about expectations that interceptors poised in 10 underground silos here would work in the event of a missile attack by North Korea.
Asked at a news conference whether he believed the missile shield was ready for use against a North Korean missile like the one test-fired unsuccessfully on July 4, Rumsfeld said he would not be fully convinced until the multibillion-dollar defense system has undergone more complete and realistic testing.
"A full end-to-end" demonstration is needed, Rumsfeld said, "where we actually put all the pieces" of the highly complex and far-flung missile defense system together and see whether it would succeed in destroying a warhead in flight.
Rumsfeld also said North Korea does not pose a military threat to South Korea, calling Pyongyang more of a danger as a distributor of weapons to other countries and perhaps terrorists.
"I think the real threat that North Korea poses in the immediate future is more one of proliferation than a danger to South Korea," he said.
Rumsfeld said it is clear that the overall condition of the North Korean military has deteriorated.
Later Sunday, Rumsfeld met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov. They discussed the Middle East and Afghanistan, as well as Russian concerns about an announced U.S. plan to remove nuclear warheads from some Trident long-range missiles aboard submarines and replace them with conventional warheads for potential use on short notice against terrorist targets.
© 2006 The Washington Post Company
Full Version: Rumsfeld Unsure of Ability to Intercept Korean
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New York Times
August 28, 2006
Rumsfeld Sees Some Progress in Missile Plan but Seeks Test
By DAVID S. CLOUD
FORT GREELY, Alaska, Aug. 27 — Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said here Sunday that while the fledgling United States ballistic missile defense system was becoming more capable, he wanted to see a successful full-scale test before declaring it able to shoot down a ballistic missile.
“I have a lot of confidence in these folks, and I have a lot of confidence in the work that’s been done,” Mr. Rumsfeld said after touring one of the system’s two interceptor sites. But he added that he wanted to see a test “where we actually put all the pieces together; that just hasn’t happened.”
Mr. Rumsfeld’s assessment was more cautious than that of the Missile Defense Agency director, Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III of the Air Force. General Obering said recently that he was confident the system could have shot down a ballistic missile test-fired July 4 by North Korea, if it had been a live attack aimed at the United States. The two-stage rocket broke up shortly after launching and fell into the Sea of Japan.
The Bush administration has taken the unusual step of deploying the system, which is designed to shoot down a limited number of missiles, before testing is completed and before all the radars and sensors necessary to track incoming missiles are in place. Mr. Rumsfeld repeated Sunday that the system was aimed at protecting against attacks from North Korea and Iran, which he called “rogue states that are intent on developing long-range ballistic missiles.”
The first flight test of the American system in more than a year, involving the firing of an interceptor at a target, is planned for this week, but it is not the sort of full-blown trial Mr. Rumsfeld meant.
The goal this week is to see if sensors in the so-called kill vehicle can recognize an incoming warhead, not to actually hit it, General Obering said. A test in which the kill vehicle is supposed to hit the target warhead is planned for later this year, he said.
But General Obering said that this week’s test was “about as realistic as you can get” because it employed a target that in its size and speed was representative of missiles that might be fired at the United States.
In the last two flight tests, the system halted the firing sequence before the interceptor missile left its silo. General Obering said those setbacks were due to “minor glitches” in software and workmanship by contractors that had “nothing to do with the functionality of the system.”
Even so, after the second failed test in February 2005, the system was taken down until December.
On his tour of Fort Greely, a remote base 100 miles from Fairbanks, Mr. Rumsfeld climbed down a ladder into an underground silo containing one of the 10 54-foot-long interceptor missiles already deployed. Another of the three-stage missiles is scheduled to be put in the ground on Monday, officials said, and as many as 40 are supposed to be installed by next year. The other interceptor site is at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where two interceptors are in silos.
Once the sensors detect an incoming missile and the interceptor is launched, it flies 18,635 miles an hour until the kill vehicle separates from its missile and, if it works correctly, flies into the incoming one, destroying it.
The Bush administration is also looking at locations for an interceptor site in Europe that would protect the United States and parts of Europe from missiles launched from the Middle East. The administration is seeking $126 million this year to build the site and the interceptors, which could be in place in four years if Congress provides the money, General Obering said.
Later in the day, Mr. Rumsfeld met in Fairbanks with Sergei Ivanov, the defense minister of Russia, which has long been wary of the American antimissile system, fearing it could be expanded into a more robust shield that would threaten the strategic balance between the United States and Russia.
Mr. Ivanov did not directly criticize the American system, but he called for “transparency” by the Bush administration, a term meant to convey Russia’s concern about any modifications to the system that could take its capabilities beyond stopping a small number of missiles.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
New York Times
August 28, 2006
Rumsfeld Sees Some Progress in Missile Plan but Seeks Test
By DAVID S. CLOUD
FORT GREELY, Alaska, Aug. 27 — Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said here Sunday that while the fledgling United States ballistic missile defense system was becoming more capable, he wanted to see a successful full-scale test before declaring it able to shoot down a ballistic missile.
“I have a lot of confidence in these folks, and I have a lot of confidence in the work that’s been done,” Mr. Rumsfeld said after touring one of the system’s two interceptor sites. But he added that he wanted to see a test “where we actually put all the pieces together; that just hasn’t happened.”
Mr. Rumsfeld’s assessment was more cautious than that of the Missile Defense Agency director, Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III of the Air Force. General Obering said recently that he was confident the system could have shot down a ballistic missile test-fired July 4 by North Korea, if it had been a live attack aimed at the United States. The two-stage rocket broke up shortly after launching and fell into the Sea of Japan.
The Bush administration has taken the unusual step of deploying the system, which is designed to shoot down a limited number of missiles, before testing is completed and before all the radars and sensors necessary to track incoming missiles are in place. Mr. Rumsfeld repeated Sunday that the system was aimed at protecting against attacks from North Korea and Iran, which he called “rogue states that are intent on developing long-range ballistic missiles.”
The first flight test of the American system in more than a year, involving the firing of an interceptor at a target, is planned for this week, but it is not the sort of full-blown trial Mr. Rumsfeld meant.
The goal this week is to see if sensors in the so-called kill vehicle can recognize an incoming warhead, not to actually hit it, General Obering said. A test in which the kill vehicle is supposed to hit the target warhead is planned for later this year, he said.
But General Obering said that this week’s test was “about as realistic as you can get” because it employed a target that in its size and speed was representative of missiles that might be fired at the United States.
In the last two flight tests, the system halted the firing sequence before the interceptor missile left its silo. General Obering said those setbacks were due to “minor glitches” in software and workmanship by contractors that had “nothing to do with the functionality of the system.”
Even so, after the second failed test in February 2005, the system was taken down until December.
On his tour of Fort Greely, a remote base 100 miles from Fairbanks, Mr. Rumsfeld climbed down a ladder into an underground silo containing one of the 10 54-foot-long interceptor missiles already deployed. Another of the three-stage missiles is scheduled to be put in the ground on Monday, officials said, and as many as 40 are supposed to be installed by next year. The other interceptor site is at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where two interceptors are in silos.
Once the sensors detect an incoming missile and the interceptor is launched, it flies 18,635 miles an hour until the kill vehicle separates from its missile and, if it works correctly, flies into the incoming one, destroying it.
The Bush administration is also looking at locations for an interceptor site in Europe that would protect the United States and parts of Europe from missiles launched from the Middle East. The administration is seeking $126 million this year to build the site and the interceptors, which could be in place in four years if Congress provides the money, General Obering said.
Later in the day, Mr. Rumsfeld met in Fairbanks with Sergei Ivanov, the defense minister of Russia, which has long been wary of the American antimissile system, fearing it could be expanded into a more robust shield that would threaten the strategic balance between the United States and Russia.
Mr. Ivanov did not directly criticize the American system, but he called for “transparency” by the Bush administration, a term meant to convey Russia’s concern about any modifications to the system that could take its capabilities beyond stopping a small number of missiles.
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...6042245,00.html
Rumsfeld Cautions on Missile Shield
Monday August 28, 2006 4:46 AM
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
FORT GREELY, Alaska (AP) - After his first look inside the nerve center of the U.S. missile defense system, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday sounded a note of caution about expectations that interceptors poised in underground silos here would work in the event of a missile attack by North Korea.
Rumsfeld climbed down a steel ladder into one of 10 silos that house single 54-foot-long missile interceptors. If ordered by President Bush, or a successor, one or more of the rockets would blast into the sky and race at more than 18,000 mph to launch a small ``kill vehicle'' at an enemy warhead as it soared through space.
An 11th interceptor is to be installed at Greely on Monday, officials said.
Asked at a news conference later whether he believed the missile shield was ready for use against a North Korean missile like the one test-fired unsuccessfully on July 4, Rumsfeld said he would not be fully persuaded until the multibillion dollar defense system has undergone more complete and realistic testing.
He alluded to his own skeptical nature. ``I want to see it happen,'' he said, ``A full end-to-end'' demonstration is needed ``where we actually put all the pieces'' of the highly complex and far-flung missile defense system together and see whether it would succeed in destroying a warhead in flight.
``That just hasn't happened,'' he said, adding that some elements of the missile defense system are yet to come on line, including some of the radars and other sensors used to track the target missile.
He declined to say when he thought the missile defense system would reach the point of full reliability, but stressed that his advisers, including Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, the Pentagon's missile defense chief, have told him they believe it will work as designed in the event of an actual missile attack.
``I have a lot of confidence in these folks, and I have a lot of confidence in the work that's been done,'' Rumsfeld said.
Later, in nearby Fairbanks, Rumsfeld met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov. They discussed the situation in the Middle East and in Afghanistan as well as Russian concern about an announced U.S. plan to remove nuclear warheads from some Trident long-range missiles aboard submarines and replace them with conventional warheads for potential use on short notice against terrorist targets.
``I would like to stress this point: These are preliminary (U.S.) plans and for sure these plans raise Russian concern,'' Ivanov said during a joint news conference with Rumsfeld at a lodge on the banks of the Chena River. ``There can be different solutions'' to the problem, such as using cruise missiles in that role, he added.
Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, program director for the ground-based interceptor system, told Rumsfeld that on Thursday an interceptor based at a second launch site, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is scheduled to be tested against a target missile launched into the Pacific from Alaska's Kodiak Island.
That will be the first full-up test of the latest version of the interceptor and its ``kill vehicle,'' a device attached to the nose of the interceptor. Once it separates from the interceptor's three-stage booster, the ``kill vehicle'' is designed to use its own propulsion system and optical sensors to lock onto its target and, by ramming into it at high speed, obliterate the warhead and any payload it might carry.
Thursday's test also will be the first use of an early-warning radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., to provide the data required to put the interceptor on a proper path toward its target. The interceptor will be controlled from a command center near Colorado Springs, Colo. Fort Greely has a similar command center.
Obering said the main objective of Thursday's test will be to see if the optical sensors on the ``kill vehicle'' aboard the interceptor work as designed. Whether it actually intercepts the target is secondary, he said. A further test, now scheduled for December, will try for an intercept, Obering said.
At a news conference, Rumsfeld said that North Korea's leaders showed, by their test-launch of multiple missiles on July 4, a determination to ``continue to improve their capability and to threaten and attempt to blackmail other people.'' He said they also are a threat to spread missile technology to terrorists.
``I think the real threat that North Korea poses in the immediate future is more one of proliferation than a danger to South Korea,'' he said. Asked to elaborate on that point, Rumsfeld said U.S. intelligence about the intentions of North Korean leaders is not very good, but he said it is clear that the overall condition of the North Korean military has deteriorated. He mentioned that North Korean air force pilots are able to fly fewer than 50 hours a year - less than one-quarter the training done by U.S. pilots.
``I don't see them, frankly, as an immediate military threat to South Korea,'' he said.
Rumsfeld Cautions on Missile Shield
Monday August 28, 2006 4:46 AM
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
FORT GREELY, Alaska (AP) - After his first look inside the nerve center of the U.S. missile defense system, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday sounded a note of caution about expectations that interceptors poised in underground silos here would work in the event of a missile attack by North Korea.
Rumsfeld climbed down a steel ladder into one of 10 silos that house single 54-foot-long missile interceptors. If ordered by President Bush, or a successor, one or more of the rockets would blast into the sky and race at more than 18,000 mph to launch a small ``kill vehicle'' at an enemy warhead as it soared through space.
An 11th interceptor is to be installed at Greely on Monday, officials said.
Asked at a news conference later whether he believed the missile shield was ready for use against a North Korean missile like the one test-fired unsuccessfully on July 4, Rumsfeld said he would not be fully persuaded until the multibillion dollar defense system has undergone more complete and realistic testing.
He alluded to his own skeptical nature. ``I want to see it happen,'' he said, ``A full end-to-end'' demonstration is needed ``where we actually put all the pieces'' of the highly complex and far-flung missile defense system together and see whether it would succeed in destroying a warhead in flight.
``That just hasn't happened,'' he said, adding that some elements of the missile defense system are yet to come on line, including some of the radars and other sensors used to track the target missile.
He declined to say when he thought the missile defense system would reach the point of full reliability, but stressed that his advisers, including Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, the Pentagon's missile defense chief, have told him they believe it will work as designed in the event of an actual missile attack.
``I have a lot of confidence in these folks, and I have a lot of confidence in the work that's been done,'' Rumsfeld said.
Later, in nearby Fairbanks, Rumsfeld met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov. They discussed the situation in the Middle East and in Afghanistan as well as Russian concern about an announced U.S. plan to remove nuclear warheads from some Trident long-range missiles aboard submarines and replace them with conventional warheads for potential use on short notice against terrorist targets.
``I would like to stress this point: These are preliminary (U.S.) plans and for sure these plans raise Russian concern,'' Ivanov said during a joint news conference with Rumsfeld at a lodge on the banks of the Chena River. ``There can be different solutions'' to the problem, such as using cruise missiles in that role, he added.
Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, program director for the ground-based interceptor system, told Rumsfeld that on Thursday an interceptor based at a second launch site, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is scheduled to be tested against a target missile launched into the Pacific from Alaska's Kodiak Island.
That will be the first full-up test of the latest version of the interceptor and its ``kill vehicle,'' a device attached to the nose of the interceptor. Once it separates from the interceptor's three-stage booster, the ``kill vehicle'' is designed to use its own propulsion system and optical sensors to lock onto its target and, by ramming into it at high speed, obliterate the warhead and any payload it might carry.
Thursday's test also will be the first use of an early-warning radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., to provide the data required to put the interceptor on a proper path toward its target. The interceptor will be controlled from a command center near Colorado Springs, Colo. Fort Greely has a similar command center.
Obering said the main objective of Thursday's test will be to see if the optical sensors on the ``kill vehicle'' aboard the interceptor work as designed. Whether it actually intercepts the target is secondary, he said. A further test, now scheduled for December, will try for an intercept, Obering said.
At a news conference, Rumsfeld said that North Korea's leaders showed, by their test-launch of multiple missiles on July 4, a determination to ``continue to improve their capability and to threaten and attempt to blackmail other people.'' He said they also are a threat to spread missile technology to terrorists.
``I think the real threat that North Korea poses in the immediate future is more one of proliferation than a danger to South Korea,'' he said. Asked to elaborate on that point, Rumsfeld said U.S. intelligence about the intentions of North Korean leaders is not very good, but he said it is clear that the overall condition of the North Korean military has deteriorated. He mentioned that North Korean air force pilots are able to fly fewer than 50 hours a year - less than one-quarter the training done by U.S. pilots.
``I don't see them, frankly, as an immediate military threat to South Korea,'' he said.
QUOTE(Snuffysmith @ Aug 28 2006, 06:45 AM)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...6042245,00.html
Rumsfeld Cautions on Missile Shield
Monday August 28, 2006 4:46 AM
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
FORT GREELY, Alaska (AP) - After his first look inside the nerve center of the U.S. missile defense system, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday sounded a note of caution about expectations that interceptors poised in underground silos here would work in the event of a missile attack by North Korea.
Rumsfeld climbed down a steel ladder into one of 10 silos that house single 54-foot-long missile interceptors. If ordered by President Bush, or a successor, one or more of the rockets would blast into the sky and race at more than 18,000 mph to launch a small ``kill vehicle'' at an enemy warhead as it soared through space.
An 11th interceptor is to be installed at Greely on Monday, officials said.
Asked at a news conference later whether he believed the missile shield was ready for use against a North Korean missile like the one test-fired unsuccessfully on July 4, Rumsfeld said he would not be fully persuaded until the multibillion dollar defense system has undergone more complete and realistic testing.
He alluded to his own skeptical nature. ``I want to see it happen,'' he said, ``A full end-to-end'' demonstration is needed ``where we actually put all the pieces'' of the highly complex and far-flung missile defense system together and see whether it would succeed in destroying a warhead in flight.
``That just hasn't happened,'' he said, adding that some elements of the missile defense system are yet to come on line, including some of the radars and other sensors used to track the target missile.
He declined to say when he thought the missile defense system would reach the point of full reliability, but stressed that his advisers, including Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, the Pentagon's missile defense chief, have told him they believe it will work as designed in the event of an actual missile attack.
``I have a lot of confidence in these folks, and I have a lot of confidence in the work that's been done,'' Rumsfeld said.
Later, in nearby Fairbanks, Rumsfeld met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov. They discussed the situation in the Middle East and in Afghanistan as well as Russian concern about an announced U.S. plan to remove nuclear warheads from some Trident long-range missiles aboard submarines and replace them with conventional warheads for potential use on short notice against terrorist targets.
``I would like to stress this point: These are preliminary (U.S.) plans and for sure these plans raise Russian concern,'' Ivanov said during a joint news conference with Rumsfeld at a lodge on the banks of the Chena River. ``There can be different solutions'' to the problem, such as using cruise missiles in that role, he added.
Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, program director for the ground-based interceptor system, told Rumsfeld that on Thursday an interceptor based at a second launch site, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is scheduled to be tested against a target missile launched into the Pacific from Alaska's Kodiak Island.
That will be the first full-up test of the latest version of the interceptor and its ``kill vehicle,'' a device attached to the nose of the interceptor. Once it separates from the interceptor's three-stage booster, the ``kill vehicle'' is designed to use its own propulsion system and optical sensors to lock onto its target and, by ramming into it at high speed, obliterate the warhead and any payload it might carry.
Thursday's test also will be the first use of an early-warning radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., to provide the data required to put the interceptor on a proper path toward its target. The interceptor will be controlled from a command center near Colorado Springs, Colo. Fort Greely has a similar command center.
Obering said the main objective of Thursday's test will be to see if the optical sensors on the ``kill vehicle'' aboard the interceptor work as designed. Whether it actually intercepts the target is secondary, he said. A further test, now scheduled for December, will try for an intercept, Obering said.
At a news conference, Rumsfeld said that North Korea's leaders showed, by their test-launch of multiple missiles on July 4, a determination to ``continue to improve their capability and to threaten and attempt to blackmail other people.'' He said they also are a threat to spread missile technology to terrorists.
``I think the real threat that North Korea poses in the immediate future is more one of proliferation than a danger to South Korea,'' he said. Asked to elaborate on that point, Rumsfeld said U.S. intelligence about the intentions of North Korean leaders is not very good, but he said it is clear that the overall condition of the North Korean military has deteriorated. He mentioned that North Korean air force pilots are able to fly fewer than 50 hours a year - less than one-quarter the training done by U.S. pilots.
``I don't see them, frankly, as an immediate military threat to South Korea,'' he said.
Rumsfeld Cautions on Missile Shield
Monday August 28, 2006 4:46 AM
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
FORT GREELY, Alaska (AP) - After his first look inside the nerve center of the U.S. missile defense system, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday sounded a note of caution about expectations that interceptors poised in underground silos here would work in the event of a missile attack by North Korea.
Rumsfeld climbed down a steel ladder into one of 10 silos that house single 54-foot-long missile interceptors. If ordered by President Bush, or a successor, one or more of the rockets would blast into the sky and race at more than 18,000 mph to launch a small ``kill vehicle'' at an enemy warhead as it soared through space.
An 11th interceptor is to be installed at Greely on Monday, officials said.
Asked at a news conference later whether he believed the missile shield was ready for use against a North Korean missile like the one test-fired unsuccessfully on July 4, Rumsfeld said he would not be fully persuaded until the multibillion dollar defense system has undergone more complete and realistic testing.
He alluded to his own skeptical nature. ``I want to see it happen,'' he said, ``A full end-to-end'' demonstration is needed ``where we actually put all the pieces'' of the highly complex and far-flung missile defense system together and see whether it would succeed in destroying a warhead in flight.
``That just hasn't happened,'' he said, adding that some elements of the missile defense system are yet to come on line, including some of the radars and other sensors used to track the target missile.
He declined to say when he thought the missile defense system would reach the point of full reliability, but stressed that his advisers, including Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, the Pentagon's missile defense chief, have told him they believe it will work as designed in the event of an actual missile attack.
``I have a lot of confidence in these folks, and I have a lot of confidence in the work that's been done,'' Rumsfeld said.
Later, in nearby Fairbanks, Rumsfeld met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ivanov. They discussed the situation in the Middle East and in Afghanistan as well as Russian concern about an announced U.S. plan to remove nuclear warheads from some Trident long-range missiles aboard submarines and replace them with conventional warheads for potential use on short notice against terrorist targets.
``I would like to stress this point: These are preliminary (U.S.) plans and for sure these plans raise Russian concern,'' Ivanov said during a joint news conference with Rumsfeld at a lodge on the banks of the Chena River. ``There can be different solutions'' to the problem, such as using cruise missiles in that role, he added.
Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, program director for the ground-based interceptor system, told Rumsfeld that on Thursday an interceptor based at a second launch site, at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., is scheduled to be tested against a target missile launched into the Pacific from Alaska's Kodiak Island.
That will be the first full-up test of the latest version of the interceptor and its ``kill vehicle,'' a device attached to the nose of the interceptor. Once it separates from the interceptor's three-stage booster, the ``kill vehicle'' is designed to use its own propulsion system and optical sensors to lock onto its target and, by ramming into it at high speed, obliterate the warhead and any payload it might carry.
Thursday's test also will be the first use of an early-warning radar at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., to provide the data required to put the interceptor on a proper path toward its target. The interceptor will be controlled from a command center near Colorado Springs, Colo. Fort Greely has a similar command center.
Obering said the main objective of Thursday's test will be to see if the optical sensors on the ``kill vehicle'' aboard the interceptor work as designed. Whether it actually intercepts the target is secondary, he said. A further test, now scheduled for December, will try for an intercept, Obering said.
At a news conference, Rumsfeld said that North Korea's leaders showed, by their test-launch of multiple missiles on July 4, a determination to ``continue to improve their capability and to threaten and attempt to blackmail other people.'' He said they also are a threat to spread missile technology to terrorists.
``I think the real threat that North Korea poses in the immediate future is more one of proliferation than a danger to South Korea,'' he said. Asked to elaborate on that point, Rumsfeld said U.S. intelligence about the intentions of North Korean leaders is not very good, but he said it is clear that the overall condition of the North Korean military has deteriorated. He mentioned that North Korean air force pilots are able to fly fewer than 50 hours a year - less than one-quarter the training done by U.S. pilots.
``I don't see them, frankly, as an immediate military threat to South Korea,'' he said.
I heard a couple of descriptions of how difficult it is to intercept a missle in flight.
One was try to hit a pidgeon flying past you by throwing a golf ball at it, the other was try to pick up a dollar bill off the pavement as you drive by at 60 mph.
Rummy may have hit the nail on the head to express doubt on this one.
These should come in handy after spending hundreds of billions on Star Wars.
The Personal Anti-Nookuelar Portable Kit
Instructions
When instructed, as following the US Government Red Hot Chili Pepper Alert,
- Place bag over head
- Sit down on box
- Wait until:
a-) Someone says "This is an exercise.",
b-) Thirsty, go crack yourself open a can of beer,
c-) You suddenly realize Star Wars is either a book about an old Legend, a very old Fiction Movie, or a very very old and expensive Lie to exdork money from taxpayers.
The Personal Anti-Nookuelar Portable Kit
Instructions
When instructed, as following the US Government Red Hot Chili Pepper Alert,
- Place bag over head
- Sit down on box
- Wait until:
a-) Someone says "This is an exercise.",
b-) Thirsty, go crack yourself open a can of beer,
c-) You suddenly realize Star Wars is either a book about an old Legend, a very old Fiction Movie, or a very very old and expensive Lie to exdork money from taxpayers.
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.