U.S. rejects launch of first-strike missile against North Korea

WASHINGTON — Senior Bush administration officials tried to ease tensions Thursday over a possible North Korean missile launch, playing down the idea of using the nascent missile-defense system and brushing aside a provocative proposal to launch a pre-emptive strike against the missile site.

The officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and national-security adviser Stephen Hadley, said they were pressing diplomatic options to persuade North Korea not to launch a long-range missile for the first time since 1998. "We think diplomacy is the right answer, and that is what we are pursuing," Hadley said.

Writing in The Washington Post on Thursday, former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter contended that diplomacy has failed and that Bush should launch a pre-emptive strike against the facility on the northeastern coast of North Korea, where a missile may be preparing for a test launch.

"I appreciate Bill's advice," Cheney told CNN. "I think, obviously, if you're going to launch strikes at another nation, you'd better be prepared to not just fire one shot. And, the fact of the matter is, I think the issue is being addressed appropriately."

Cheney minimized the threat posed by North Korea to the United States, saying that its "missile capabilities are fairly rudimentary" and that "their test flights in the past haven't been notably successful."

Also

A Navy ship Thursday intercepted a medium-range missile warhead above the Earth's atmosphere off Hawaii in the latest test of the U.S. missile-defense program, the military said. The Missile Defense Agency said the test had been scheduled for months and was not prompted by concerns about a North Korean test launch.