With North Korea nearing its first test launch of a ballistic missile that could strike within the US, Clinton Administration defense chief William J. Perry is calling for a pre-emptive strike to target that long-range missile on its pad. In a Washington Post op-ed, Perry joins with Ashton Carter, his assistant secretary for international security policy, to write: “Should the United States allow a country openly hostile to it and armed with nuclear weapons to perfect an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering nuclear weapons to US soil? We believe not. … Intervening before mortal threats to US security can develop is surely a prudent policy. … If North Korea persists in its launch preparations, the United States should immediately make clear its intention to strike and destroy the North Korean Taepodong missile before it can be launched. … Diplomacy has failed, and we cannot sit by and let this deadly threat mature.”
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
