General: US Confident It Can Intercept Any North Korean Missile

Says North Korea 'Can't Reach Our Homeland'

Air Force Gen. Lori Robinson today testified to lawmakers that she was “extremely confident” that US forces could intercept any North Korean ICBM fired at the continental United States.

“Right now he can’t reach our homeland,” Robinson insisted, and while North Korea isn’t believed to have the capability of firing such missiles in the first place. Robinson said she believed the US could detect and shoot down any hypothetical future missiles the North Koreans manage to get ahold of.

North Korea fired what was described as an extended-range Scud prototype earlier this week, though the missile rapidly spiraled out on control and crashed into the Sea of Japan just off the Korean coast.

Though officials continue to play up the threat of North Korea, and the need to heavily fund anti-missile systems against them, in practice most of North Korea’s test launches end in disastrous failure. North Korea’s talk of having nuclear capable warheads is also considered extremely doubtful given their current level of technology.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.