Maybe a little credit is due to Bush

Remember the "sky is falling" rhetoric when Bush vocalized the truth about three nations. There were the Axis of Evil...North Korea, Iran and Iraq. Well, some people deny the evils that were in the borders of Iraq prior to the USA liberating that country. There is not a doubt there was evil running that country, and evil acts being perpetrated in that country.

But those same people complained that we were being unfair to Iran & North Korea. I mean, can't we all get along?

It is well documented over recent months that Iran is legitimately considered evil. Their stated goals are to eliminate from existance Israel. They are developing nuclear weapons...on and on. And do not think that we can come to negotiations with them either. They will develop their weapons in secret!

North Korea is another one where their path of evil is documented. Their latest is threats of testing/launching long range missiles which could reach the United States. Rightly so, the USA has warned that would be considered 'provacative'. Unfortunately there are word games being played in the middle of this.

The United States warned that a North Korean launch of a long-range missile would be a "provocative act" and began intensive diplomatic consultations on a response.

"There are reports they may be preparing for a long-range missile launch," said Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman.

"The United States government as a whole has been consulting with allies in the region and has made clear than a North Korean missile launch would be a provocative act," he said.

Whitman noted that the United States has limited missile defenses but would not say whether it intends to use them against a North Korean missile launch.

However, he pointedly used the term "launch" rather than "test" to describe the North Korean preparations and said Pyongyang's intentions were not clear.

"A test would imply that you would know the intentions," he said. "We don't know the intentions."

Just say, "a 'test' will be considered a 'launch' if it goes further than North Korea's borders."

And, I'm glad Bolton is our UN ambassador. If he really is the bulldog the Democrats feared then we have a better hope things will get done.

At the United Nations, US Ambassador John Bolton said he was consulting members of the Security Council "on what steps might be taken because it would obviously be very serious."

"Obviously the first preference is that the North Koreans not light the missile off. We've made that clear to them," he added.

In 1998, North Korea fired a two-stage Taepodong 1 missile over Japan into the Pacific Ocean, causing an international furore.

It declared a moratorium on flight tests of long range missiles in 1999 but said in 2005 that it would no longer keep to it.

So, what is the deal with two-stage tests versus now? The difference is they are working on a 3-staged missile delivery vehicle.

A two-stage Taepodong-2 missile could hit parts of the United States, while a three-stage Taepodong-2 could range all of North America, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency told the US Senate in February 2005.

Previous unclassified Defense Department estimates date back to 1997, when a report put the Taepodong-2 missile's range at between 4,000 and 6,000 kilometers (2,500-3,750 miles) , and the Taepodong-1 at 1,500 km (940 miles).

Remember Star Wars? Remember how the Democrats wanted to kill it because, well, who really knows why. The result is that they did kill it and we now have no defense. Even in the post-Cold War era Star Wars is needed. Shame one the Dems for killing it. Shame on the GOP for not getting through Congress in 10 years of power or in the 6 years of having the House, Senate and the White House. Sorry for the tangent, but it needs to be clear that both parties failed the country in this regard.

The United States has been working feverishly, with mixed success, to field missile defenses capable of countering a limited missile attack by North Korea.

A North Korean launch would mark the first real test of the US system, which currently consists of an array of tracking and targeting radars and at least 11 interceptor missiles in silos in Alaska and California.

US Aegis warships have been modified for missile defense missions. Several are stationed in the western Pacific.

Their Spy-1 radars are capable of tracking missile launches. The US Missile Defense Agency also has been testing capabilities of warships to shoot down short and medium range missiles with interceptor missiles.

Last November, a US Navy cruiser intercepted a mock warhead after it separated from a medium-range missile in a test pover the Pacific.

Star Wars is needed because the current "defense" requires ships being deployed in the exact right range. Star Wars would have allowed our ships to be elsewhere around the globe.

Bush did campaign in 2000 as being pro Star Wars. Moreover, he and his administration deserve credit for calling out the Axis of Evil long ago. Now can they do what they need to do to solve the problem?