The link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13361343/
One quote in here jumped out at me:
Robert Einhorn, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said a U.S. shootdown of a North Korean missile on a test flight or a space launch would draw “very strong international reaction” against the United States. He saw only a small chance that the U.S. would attempt a shootdown.
My initial response was to agree that there would be a strong international backlash against the US if we did shot down the DPRK's test missile. When I paused for a second to think about that, I realized just how absurd it is. How petty, mindless and knee-jerk has the world's anti-Americanism gotten that we'd be demonized for telling current World Douchebagging record holder Kim Jong Il that he's not allowed to nuke us?
I mean, it's almost a favor to him. He wants to know if his missile will work for nuking the US. If we've got an anti-missile system that shoots it down, then the answer is “no.” Would we be doing our part as members of the international community by not allowing him to conduct a realistic test?
Seriously though, this is Anybody But America at its finest. The whole goddamned world is scared of DPRK and it's nukes, but they're still ready to jump all over us for refusing to protect them in a fashion as completely pussified as the way they protect themselves. Guys, if acting like a bunch of queens was an effective defense, you'd be completely inassailable.
Now, I honestly don't think our shitty anti-missile system would even work. If it did, 100% of the time, I think it aught to be a fucking Constitutional Amendment that we'd have to shoot down missiles launched by fat, pompadour sporting dictators. But that's not how we do. We just hop in a bubble bath with a copy of US is From Venus, Europe is From Even Gayer Venus, and try to figure out how to verbalize our commitment to hugs in a way that both redeems and affirms our precious allies around the world.