Editor’s note: Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin is an online, subscription intelligence news service from the creator of WorldNetDaily.com – a journalist who has been developing sources around the world for the last 25 years.
In a few short years, today’s terror-sponsoring nations may not need to send terrorists with backpack nukes to wreak devastation on the West because they will be capable of hitting New York or Los Angeles with warheads mounted on ICBMs, report top intelligence sources in the latest issue of Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
So concerned are U.S. officials about the growing vulnerability of America to the long-range missiles of countries like Iran, Syria and North Korea, that Washington last month instituted punitive sanctions against China over concerns Beijing was helping Iran in pursuing nuclear weapons and advanced missiles.
U.S. intelligence officials believe Iran is working to acquire nuclear weapons capability, even as it advances its medium-range missile arsenal. Iran is thought to have successfully tested a missile with an 800-mile range last year. U.S. intelligence officials have estimated that Iran, at its current pace of development, could be able by 2015 to launch an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching U.S. soil. Others believe that timetable could be off by five years – meaning Iran could have this capability by 2010.
And Iran is just one of many such threats. Intelligence analysts specializing in the next generation of ballistic and strategic missiles believe time is not working in favor of the U.S.
In addition to the potential threat by nuclear countries armed with long-range ballistic missiles or nuclear submarines, the U.S. has to look also at the so-called “ballistic newcomers.”
The U.S. has a series of bilateral and international agreements such as the Missile Technology Control Regime understanding, which controls the proliferation of long-range missiles. But diplomatic approaches in the post-Cold War era are beginning to lose their effectiveness. Countries that until lately were perceived to be lagging behind are now joining the club and becoming a clear and present danger.
Some experts who were behind the 1995 intelligence assessment presented to President Clinton had suggested the U.S. has a window of opportunity at least until 2010 to widen the technical gap and use diplomacy to convince countries such as Russia, China, the Ukraine and North Korea not to export long-range weapons systems or technical know-how.
Now it seems Western intelligence experts may have failed to assess the rapid development of ballistic missiles, not only in the leading technical countries but also in oil-rich countries with anti-American and anti-West and Islamic fundamentalist ideologies, G2 Bulletin reports.
One of the most prominent doctrines in a number of pariah states, such as Iran, North Korea and Libya, is that if regimes want to prevent a Saddam Hussein-style fate, they need to create some balance of fear with the U.S, according to the premium, online intelligence newsletter.
In reality, the solution to the growing U.S. threat as perceived by the pariah nations can be achieved only by purchasing and investing in the development of missiles. These missile programs are now being transformed from the older concept of having missiles with a short and medium range to the actual purchase of the next generation. This can be done at a relatively low cost. Expenses for building a missile or launching site are much lower than investment in a large navy or modern air forces.
The list of threats includes not only the existing pariah nations, but also nations with shaky regimes in possession of missiles and large armies, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia. These countries, and a few others, are probable “candidates” for Islamic revolutions similar to Iran’s 1979 conflict that overnight turned the country from being a stable U.S. ally to a vicious enemy.
North Korea is known to be actively copying Russian, Chinese and Ukrainian models, while at the same time developing her own systems. North Korea regards herself as the No. 1 strategic confrontation country with the U.S. and is exercising diplomatic blackmail surrounding the manufacturing of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. The country is critically short on funds, motivating her to be in the business of missile sales to a variety of client countries.
While examining the missile race it is necessary to bring into account the nuclear powers India and Pakistan. Islamabad’s good relationship with Washington is only as good as the current regime. Anti-U.S. and anti-West forces in that country are on the increase. President Pervez Musharaf himself, in a speech delivered just a few days ago, warned his countrymen of the danger of the “Talibanization” of Pakistan.
“Clearly, the growing danger, which eventually will threaten the continental U.S., cannot be dealt with exclusively through diplomatic means,” reports G2 Bulletin. “Experts on global strategies believe the U.S. is the only country capable of investing in technical and economic programs to sustain and uphold a successful missile defense program. This is already of concern to China, Russia, North Korea and others.”
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