Democrats Downplay North Korean Threat
While Republicans in Congress understand the threat North Korea poses as it boldly launches missiles and conducts nuclear tests, Democrats seem to think North Korea merely is tossing pebbles at a lion.
The point is not whether the rogue nation will hit us with a nuclear weapon, though that’s a possibility we’d do well to keep in mind. The point is that North Korea is ready, willing, and able to defy the world despite the consequences.
“The fact that North Korea and Iran are continuously seeking both nuclear capability and long-term missile capability should cause the administration to pause on its characterization of the threats and their focus on [spending] cuts,” Republican Rep. Michael Turner (pictured) told Politico. “Our missile defense system is the only defense we have if North Korea should place an ICBM on its launch with a nuclear weapon attached.”
Democrat Rick Larsen said, “It is North Korea, after all. There will always be another provocative incident.”
In what Politico describes as “the most sweeping overhaul of the U.S. missile defense program in a decade,” the Obama administration is cutting missile defense and wavering on our commitments to build missile defense shields in Poland and the Czech Republic. The administration wants to reduce missile defense spending from $9.2 billion in 2009 to $7.8 billion in 2010. The president also wants to reduce missile interceptors in Alaska and California from 44 to 30. Budget reductions will affect weapons systems created to stop missiles in the boost phase, a critical point in a missile’s cycle.
Favoring talk over action, Barack Obama wants to appease Russia and discuss nuclear power with rogue nation Iran. The upper hand is quickly shifting to countries that want us to be vulnerable. Obama’s weak stance will do more harm than good. Other countries are acting in their own best interests. Perhaps one day, before it’s too late, we’ll start acting in ours.
Tags: Alaska, California, Czech Republic, North Korea, Poland