Heads Up Hawaii

If you've been paying even peripheral attention to the news over the past few months you'll know that North Korea has been in the midst of bolstering their long range strike capabilities. Several months ago the North Korean government announced the testing of a long range missile that was scheduled to overfly the islands of Japan. Now granted some could argue that the islands of Japan lie almost directly in the path of any test rocket/missile that will eventually land in the Pacific (which was the intent of the North Koreans) but is that any excuse to say 'okay, fire away'?

One of the chief concerns at the time was supposing the missile (which was not armed with a warhead so far as has been reported) did not make the reported distance it was supposed to and fell well short. Perhaps short enough in it's projected flight path that it ended up impacting Japan; what would have happened then? There was immediate reaction from most of the world condemning what North Korea did but the fact remained that the North Koreans continued to develop their devices as per their desires. Some months after that they detonated (underground) a nuclear bomb which if paired with a warhead, means they would be able to launch a nuclear strike from their country and have it impact anywhere within the range of that missile. That includes Japan, most of Asia, China and Russia. And now they are getting ready to test a missile that has the potential of reaching the islands of Hawaii.

Now hindsight being 20/20 means that people have the benefit of having lived through something to look back and see how things could potentially have been better. Hawaii has been the example case of this phenomenon ever since Japan launched their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on the 7th of December, 1941. Now once again Hawaii is being pegged as the longest range potential target of a missile launched from North Korea. And not willing to take any chances, the United States is beefing up security and protection for the Island State in order to offer up some means of defense in case the missiles from North Korea indeed do have the range and capability of reaching 4,500 miles.

It's quite easy to dismiss efforts of countries like North Korea or China (with their space program) as being inferior to nations that have developed such technology far earlier and a lot longer than them. But I would offer up the observation that even our efforts here in the United States could be considered rudimentary if we look back at it now. We have the advantage of having more advanced technology now which allows us to look at these fledgling attempts with a certain amount of skepticism as to their ability but I don't think we should ever consider it to be any less deadly if used with that type of purpose in mind.

Recalling back to 1941, 'experts' and analysts all over contended that it was more likely that Hitler would launch an attack across the ocean on the United States than Japan. Despite what the Japanese had accomplished in Asia up to that point, there was doubt that the Japanese could ever mount an attack on the United States. Though they had a significant Navy, it was still considered inferior to what the Allies had by way of ships and weapons. Yet it was this 'inferior' Navy that nearly destroyed the entire Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. I bring this up only because I wish to point out that it's wrong of us to assume. There's a saying that one should never assume because you make an ass of u and me. I think the statement is quite appropriate and some of the measures being undertaken now (such as moving floating radar platforms into the area) are steps in the right direction.

Some may argue that this is proof that the United States should have invested in missile defense technology long ago. Well I can say this, forget what you see in the movies, the actual application of anti-ballistic missile technology is so difficult that by merely having it won't guarantee that a missile launch can be diverted or prevented. Others may say that negotiating with the North Koreans to have them end their nuclear weapons program is the way to go yet ever since the 1990's the North Koreans have constantly backed out of negotiations for whatever reasons. And quite honestly, our economy isn't in shape enough to enter another Cold War with accompanying spending necessary to outspend them the way we did with the Russians. It's a completely new and unique situation and although the North Koreans continue to state that they will not 'attack' Hawaii, I think it pays to be alert. I always remember what Thomas Jefferson said, "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." I think that's quite true.