***update: All the latest here.***

Austin Bay weighs in:

Sure, the missiles are big news but they aren’t the strategic shocker. The shocker occurred in August 1998 when Pyongyang tested a long-range ballistic missile. That launch revitalized the United State-Japanese alliance and blew away any legitimate arguments that the U.S. could wait to develop and deploy ballistic missile defenses.

Pyongyang’s 1998 test shot demonstrated that Japan and the US – and for that matter, Europe– are vulnerable to rogue missile attack, and it’s utterly false to argue otherwise. It meant U.S. diplomacy and the world economy are potential hostages to missile blackmail by regional tinpots.

Japan got North Korea’s message. That’s why US and Japanese cooperation on missile defense –and defense in general– has increased.

Was this a North Korean pre-emption of the 4th of July? Remember, NoKo’s launches took place early on the morning of July 5, local time. The timing was darned close to NASA’s shuttle launch time.

As an Army reserve officer, I spent four years assigned to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO)—which was once called SDI and is now named Missile Defense (MD). I had the privilege of watching BMDO test prototypes of the military intelligence and combat organizations it takes to fight a 21st century anti-missile battle…

…The Bush Administration ditched the ABM Treaty in 2001. Thank goodness.

The politicos who opposed ABM development and worshiped that fossil called the 1972 ABM Treaty need to be damned in public.

Majority Leader John Boehner statement just released:

“The North Korean government’s missile tests have rightfully been condemned by the United States and the international community as a dangerous provocation that threatens peaceful, multilateral diplomatic discussions.

“This is a serious international security concern, and it is critical that we support the efforts of President Bush and our diplomats as they work with other members of the international community to agree upon a collective response to the North Korean regime’s pattern of dangerous defiance.”

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