In the coming days, North Korea will likely launch what it claims is a satellite, using what the U.S. intelligence community believes is a Taepodong 2 missile. Iran and North Korea have in the past used supposed satellite launches to test and improve their long-range ballistic missile systems, which in the case of North Korea, are capable of reaching parts of the United States. Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, passed after North Korea’s test of a nuclear device in October 2006, North Korea is prohibited from conducting any “launch of a ballistic missile.” Secretary of State Clinton has said that “there will be consequences” if North Korea proceeds with the launch. Yesterday, sixteen Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee sent a letter to President Obama outlining what those consequences should be. The letter urges the president to “authorize our military commanders to employ our nation’s missile defense system, should the United States or our allies be put at risk.” On its face, this seems like an odd request — why wouldn’t the president authorize our military commanders to employ our missile defense system? The request is necessary, however, because of comments made by Secretary of Defense Gates on Fox News Sunday on March 29. When asked by host Chris Wallace whether there was anything we could do about a missile launch by North Korea, Gates responded, “No, I would say we’re not prepared to do anything about it.” Gates did state that “if we had an aberrant missile, one that was headed for Hawaii or something like that, we might consider it. But I don’t think we have any plans to do anything like that at this point.” “We might consider it”? Given that the missile defense system activated by President Bush in 2004 is capable of protecting the United States from North Korean missiles, why wouldn’t the administration employ our missile defense system to shoot down a missile that threatens U.S. territory? Depending on the direction the missile is launched, it may be difficult to quickly ascertain whether it truly is a headed toward space or a whether it is a missile destined for Japan or Hawaii. We shouldn’t believe it is a satellite launch just because the North Koreans say so. Perhaps the administration has information we don’t know about that gives them some comfort, but Gates’ comments are troubling because they send the message to Pyongyang that they can shoot off missiles with no more repercussions than a new UN Security Council Resolution which they can promptly ignore. The comments also send the wrong message to our allies in the region, including Japan, which has had North Korea fire missiles over its territory in the past and which, this week, indicated that it would shoot down the missile or any debris that threatens Japanese territory. One would hope that this laissez faire approach to North Korea’s actions is not driven by the Obama administration’s general lack of interest in missile defense. The administration appears to be debating whether to sacrifice the planned missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic for greater Russian assistance on Iran, and, as Rep. Todd Akin pointed out in the Washington Times, Democrats in Congress have a history of trying to cut spending on missile defense. On the campaign trail, then-candidate Obama often cited the need for more testing of our missile defense system. Is the administration concerned that a successful hit by our missile defense system against the North Korean missile, perhaps the most convincing “test” possible, would make it more difficult for them to cut missile defense funding and do away with the missile defense sites in Europe? During its first two months in office, the Obama administration’s North Korea policy seemed more rational than that of President Bush’s. During the Bush administration, Secretary Rice would dispatch Chris Hill to Pyongyang to cut a deal every time the North Koreans threw a temper tantrum. The Obama administration, to its credit, has let the North Koreans stew for weeks, not rewarding them for bad behavior and even appointing an envoy who is only part-time to replace Hill. But it now appears that they intend to try to ignore not just North Korean bravado, but also North Korean actions that could potentially threaten the United States and our allies.
