U.S. commander: North Korea has capacity to miniaturize nuclear warheads

[bananas]

Source: UPI

North Korea has the capacity to miniaturize nuclear warheads, send long-range ballistic missiles to the United States and has sufficient plutonium to create 22 nuclear weapons.

Adm. Bill Gortney, commander of the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, said Wednesday that North Korea's nuclear missiles are capable of hitting the continental United States, but added the U.S. military can intercept a North Korean missile.

Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., Gortney said he agrees with U.S. intelligence claims that North Korea has the capacity to miniaturize nuclear warheads that could then be installed on an intercontinental ballistic missile.

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Gortney said the military has been investing in updating the current missile defense system, but also securing cost-effective missile deterrence, including new sensors and radars.

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Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2015/10/09/US-commander-North-Korea-has-capacity-to-miniaturize-nuclear-warheads/9831444398424/

[bananas]

1. US within reach of North Korean nukes, says NORAD

http://presstv.ir/Detail/2015/10/09/432653/North-Korea-Nuclear-Attack-NORAD-US-Bill-Gortney

US within reach of North Korean nukes, says NORAD

Fri Oct 9, 2015 9:21A

North Korea has sufficient technological capability to conduct nuclear attacks against the US mainland, a top US military chief has warned.

Admiral William Gortney, commander of US Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), has said that according to US intelligence assessments, the southeast Asian country is indeed equipped with nuclear weapons, and has the ability to “miniaturize” them and put them on a rocket that could reach targets on US soil.

“We assess that they have the capability to reach the homeland with a nuclear weapon from a rocket,” Gortney told an event hosted by the Atlantic Council think tank.

The commander added that since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is not predictable in terms of behavior, the US military is on a round-the-clock alert to respond if he were to use a nuclear weapon.

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[KeepItReal]

2. Does it mention if NK's leader has a death wish?

Because that information is what's really important.

Someone who wants to see an American nuclear response on his own country worries me more than a dictator who builds and stockpiles nukes that will never be used.

[yurbud]

6. this sounds like Bush era bullshit

[mpcamb]

3. This sounds like a plea for more money or a free hand in intervention to me.

[Scuba]

9. Bingo!

[yurbud]

4. why would they launch such an attack when they'd burned off the map before the dust cleared here?

[yurbud]

5. the American media doesn't seem to know we have thousands of nukes ourselves

[Sliceo]

7. Dangerous stuff

On the wrong hands.

[davidpdx]

8. Scary

I live just across the boarder in South Korea. Certainly this is going to push South Korea and Japan to want to have nukes as a deterrent. That would be dangerous as it could lead to an arms build up in Asia.