The end of deterrence
Posted: July 3, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

It should surprise no one that North Korea is threatening to test-fire a long-range missile in the direction of the U.S.

North Korea is believed to possess an arsenal of up to eight nuclear weapons. It has developed a new intercontinental ballistic missile, the Taepodong 2, which is more than capable of reaching North America. And it has a ruthless, barbaric, America-hating, socialist dictator running every aspect of what passes for life in the starving, backward, prison nation.

What should America's response be to this threat?

What has America's response been?

For 60 years, America has deterred nuclear threats by letting its enemies know that any missile launch against it by a nuclear power would be met with an overwhelming nuclear response.

This is the policy that kept the uneasy peace throughout the Cold War years and subsequently. No leader in his right mind would consider launching a missile – armed or unarmed – against the U.S. knowing it would result in his country's total annihilation.

There are two problems with this policy as it pertains to the North Korea launch:

* North Korea's Kim Jong-Il – sometimes referred to as Kim Jong Mentally Ill – may or may not be in his right mind. There are many reasons to suggest he is not. He has demonstrated a complete lack of compassion toward his own people – leaving millions near starvation while he feeds his own sophisticated war machine far in excess of anything needed to defend his country, which faces no realistic external threats.

* In the current crisis, President Bush has completely abdicated his sworn constitutional responsibility to defend the United States from attack by refusing to reassert the nation's long-standing policy of "launch on warning."

What does "launch on warning" mean?

It means when NORAD detects and confirms a missile launch toward the U.S., the response is an all-out nuclear attack on the country responsible.

Since there is no way to determine the payload of an incoming missile, the U.S. policy must assume such a missile launch is a potentially devastating hostile act.

Tacitly, however, the Bush administration has seemingly abandoned this very sensible policy with respect to the North Korean threat. Instead, the president suggests, the U.S. will merely "try" to shoot down the incoming missile with its primitive and incomplete anti-missile system.

This sweeping policy change by the Bush administration is nothing short of suicidal and illogical. It represents, even more than North Korea's nuclear arsenal, a grave threat to the security of the U.S.

By not reminding the world that U.S. national defense policy is "launch on warning," Bush has invited more threats like this in the future and, even worse, an attack scenario that could spell the end of America's way of life at some point in the future.

If we permit North Korea to fire a missile – armed or unarmed – toward the U.S., with no immediate response guaranteed, what will prevent future aggression of this kind by North Korea and other enemies determined to test America's resolve?

I have to tell you I am gravely alarmed by the fact that no other analyst has yet made this point as emphatically as I am making it: The only acceptable American response to North Korea's threat is to tell the world once again that any missile launch on U.S. territory will mean an all-out nuclear attack.

We can't wait to find out if the missile carries a nuclear payload. We cannot afford to lose one American city. We cannot afford to see if North Korea's "test" is actually a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack designed to cripple the country's electronic infrastructure. We can only rely on what has worked in the past – deterrence.

Overnight, and without any public debate, America's defense strategy has dramatically shifted. By not being clear with North Korea, by not stating unequivocally that a missile launch of any kind toward our country means total devastation for the enemy responsible, President Bush has left America vulnerable to all our enemies.

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