Now They Turn Into Hawks

William J. Perry Clinton's secretary of defense and Ashton B. Carter, assistant secretary of defense, in the Clinton administration today issued a statement through the Washington Post calling for the destruction of North Korea's ICBM test vehicle the Taepodong missile on its launch platform.

The open letter is strongly worded and makes complete sense. Citing that Bush's stated policy to make pre-emptive strikes against countries posing a threat to the U.S. was used to stop Iraq, which had only a nascent nuclear program when compared to North Korea, then there is no reason to let the Korean missile launch.

My question is where were these guys when Clinton was allowing North Korea to build the infrastructure necessary to create this missile. Perry was sworn into office in 1994. The same year Jimmy Carter went to North Korea, on his own hook, to strke a deal that would stop the North's nuclear program in exchange for all types of technological goodies, oil and food.

Did Perry ever bring up the idea of calling Jimbo back and simply nailing the nuclear and missile facilities? For his sake I hope he was pounding on Clinton's desk, probably disturbing the intern stationed below, begging for permission to attack. If he remained quiet then I hope Perry can live with his conscious.

Oddly, for a hawk like myself, I prefer the idea of blasting the North Korean missile out of the sky after the launch. If we could hit it, granted a big if, then it would prove our defensive capability essentially removing the threat. If we can shoot down enemy missile at will then North Korea can build all they want. I would imagine the Japanese and South Korean governments would not mind an anti-missile base in their countries along with some pretty Star Trekkie level gear coming online in the next few years. Such as the airborne laser system.

Hitting the missile on the ground is an act of war and could give North Korea and its crazy president cause to strike back. Perhaps the international uproar would not be so great as it seems the EU representatives meeting with the president in Vienna are supportive of a tougher stance against North Korea and Iran these days. Something that must have knocked Bush out of his chair when he heard it.