BBC News - N Korea and Iran 'sharing ballistic missile technology'

Image via Wikipediahttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13402590

North Korea and Iran appear to have been exchanging ballistic missile technology in violation of sanctions, a leaked UN report shows.

The report, obtained by Reuters, said regular transfers had been taking place through "a neighbouring third country", named by diplomats as China.
The sanctions were imposed on Pyongyang by the UN after it conducted a series of nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
They ban all trade in nuclear and missile technology with North Korea.
They also imposed an arms embargo and subjected some North Korean individuals to travel bans and assets freezes.
North Korea has twice tested nuclear devices and said in September last year that it had entered the final phase of uranium enrichment.
The country is believed to have enough plutonium to make about six bombs, but is not thought to have developed a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
'New challenges'
The report was written by a UN panel of experts monitoring Pyongyang's compliance with the sanctions.

It said that "prohibited ballistic missile-related items are suspected to have been transferred between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea] and the Islamic Republic of Iran", using regular scheduled flights on national carriers Air Koryo and Iran Air.

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Mystery Missile Launch Off California Coast, Navy, DHS & Pentagon None the Wiser (Video) | REPUBLICAN REDEFINED

http://republicanredefined.com/2010/11/09/mystery-missile-launch-off-california-coast-navy-dhs-pentagon-none-the-wiser-video/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mystery-missile-launch-off-california-coast-navy-dhs-pentagon-none-the-wiser-video

The case of the mystery missile launch… A missile was seen departing the waters off the coast of California last evening and video of the missile and its contrail make any attempt to dispute a launch rather ridiculous to say the least.  There was a launch.  The only question is – who’s the responsible party here?  Oh, and it seems no one – and I mean no one – from the Navy to NORTHCOM to The Pentagon to DHS has a friggin clue!!
Accordingly, speculation is all over the grid.  I obviously have no credible information as to its origin, so I will not add to the confusion.  I will follow and update as I learn more.

CBS: Magnificent images were captured by the KCBS news helicopter in L.A. around sunset Monday evening. The location of the missile was about 35 miles out to sea, west of L.A. and north of Catalina Island.
A Navy spokesperson told KFMB it wasn’t their missile. He said there was no Navy activity reported in the area Monday evening

BakersfieldNow:  Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Tuesday that officials can’t confirm that there was a launch and if there was, by whom. He says officials are talking to the Air Force, Navy and NORAD as well as civilian authorities who control and monitor air space.

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Pakistan test fires nuclear-capable missiles

clipped from en.rian.ru © RIA Novosti. Michail Fomichev | Buy this image Related News Pakistan to buy guided missile frigate from U.S. -TV Russia against developing military ties with Pakistan India, Pakistan swap lists of nuclear sites U.S. seeks closer military ties with India Pakistan has successfully tested two ballistic missiles capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads, Pakistan News.Net reported the military as saying on Saturday. Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said the short-range Hatf III and medium-range Hatf IV were launched in the course of an annual field exercise by the Army Strategic Force Command. "Both missiles can carry conventional and nuclear warheads to a range of 290 km and 650 km, respectively," he said.

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clipped from www.wired.com How To: Risk World War III, and Blow Billions Doing It The Pentagon’s plan to fire ballistic missiles at terrorists isn’t just a nuclear Armageddon risk. It’s a ludicrously expensive way to accidentally start World War III: each weapon could cost anywhere from a few hundred million to $1 billion. The Defense Department wants to spend about $240 million next year on the controversial “prompt global strike” project. Eventually, it could lead to weapons that could strike virtually anywhere in the planet within an hour or two. Official price tags are a little lower. The Air Force figures a single demonstration of such a missile might eat up $500 million. Follow-on weapons missiles might only cost $300 million apiece, (And maybe, as commenter “Almanac” notes, the Russian and Chinese radars are functioning well enough to tell the difference.) Maybe. But what happens other countries follow our lead, and start assembling their own conventional ballistic missile stockpiles?

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Obama administration revives controversial Bush's Prompt Global Strike scheme

clipped from www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com One of the more controversial schemes of the Rumsfeld-era Pentagon was the Prompt Global Strike: equipping ICMSs with conventional warheads, and using the missiles to strike any target around the world -- such as terrorists fleeing the scene of an attack -- within an hour; there was only one problem with the plan: the missile launch could start a Third World War because, as a congressional; study said: "For many minutes during their flight patterns, these missiles might appear to be headed towards targets in [Russia and China}" The Obama administration is about to take up one of the more controversial schemes of the Rumsfeld-era Pentagon. Noah Shachtman writes that there is just one problem: the launches could very well start a Third World War. The reason was simple: these missiles, even if they aim at terrorists, look and fly exactly like the nuclear missiles the United States would launch at Russia or China in the event of Armageddon.

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Pentagon Confident It Could Intercept an Iranian Missile

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clipped from www.foxnews.com The Pentagon is "very confident" that it could defend the United States against the threat of an Iranian ballistic missile strike, the Defense Department's chief spokesman said Wednesday. A recent Defense Department report to Congress concludes that Iran could develop a missile capable of striking the United States by 2015. Iran already has the largest deployed ballistic missile force in the Middle East, comprising about 1,000 missiles capable of hitting targets up to 1,200 miles (1930 kilometers) away, the report warns. The United States has 25 long-range interceptor missiles based in Alaska and California, as part of a system designed to defend the nation against an attack from North Korea or Iran. Eight of 14 tests of the interceptors have been successful, while the remaining tests suffered software glitches and other technical problems. But U.S. officials say the system should still work in the event of an attack.

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