The U.S. Must Remain Undeterred by North Korea’s Blustering and Belligerence (Rep. Trent Franks)

Yesterday, the media reported that North Korea has warned the world it will counterstrike if any country should move to intercept what Pyongyang is calling a “peaceful satellite launch.” The official Korean Central News Agency reportedly quoted a spokesman of the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army as saying, “We will retaliate (over) any act of intercepting our satellite for peaceful purposes with prompt counterstrikes by the most powerful military means.” He added, “Shooting our satellite for peaceful purposes will precisely mean a war.”

The United States must ensure we are unequivocal about defending Americans should we be forced to make a decision to intercept a missile directed toward our homeland, troops or allies that may or may not be a satellite launch. As the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Gen. James Cartwright, recently noted, space launch technologies “are compatible with an intercontinental ballistic missile-type capability.” We already know North Korea’s Taepo Dong missile has a range that spans to the U.S. West Coast. Blustering by belligerent nations must not intimidate the Obama Administration or deter the President from authorizing the moral and Constitutional response from our government. Our strategic missile defense system is capable of interdicting a simple threat from North Korea. To fail to make this system operational, should the North Korean’s demand that we do, would be profoundly negligent.