IRAN
Opinion: Iran Can’t Follow North Korea’s Nuclear Example
Meir Javedanfar, The Diplomat – March 13, 2013
Some argue that Iran could follow N. Korea’s nuclear path. Actually, Pyongyang’s experience may deter Tehran from building a bomb.
NORTH KOREA
No “smoking gun” from North Korean nuclear test
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters – March 12, 2013
A month after North Korea’s nuclear test, a monitoring agency said on Tuesday it was highly unlikely to find any “smoking gun” radioactive traces from the blast, potentially leaving important questions about the device unresolved.
Opinion: Nuclear War Through North Korean Eyes
Nile Bowie, Global Research – March 13, 2013
There is little doubt that civilians on both sides of the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) are weighed down with anxiety as both countries carry out provocative large-scale military drills amid threats of nuclear war. North Korea has recently announced that it will no longer abide by the UN-brokered armistice that ended the Korean War with a ceasefire in 1953 and authorities have severed its communications hotline with the South, the only diplomatic channel of contact between the two countries.
MISSILE DEFENSE
Success of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system questioned
Paul Iddon, Digital Journal – March 12, 2013
Professor Theodore Postol of MIT expressed his skepticism regarding the official success rate of the Israeli anti-missile Iron Dome missile defense system.
First European Missile Interceptor System Tested Successfully: NATO
RTT News – March 12, 2013
NATO revealed Tuesday that the Italian Army and French Air Force have successfully tested the first European surface-to-air missile system, thereby proving its ability to work with the western military alliance’s interim Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) command and control system.
U.S, Japan Test Integrated Missile Defense In The Pacific
DefenseWorld.net – March 13, 2013
Japan Air Self Defense Force Maj. Gen. Masashi Yamada, the director of the Defense Plans and Operations Directorate at the Air Defense Command Headquarters, based at Yokota Air Base, Japan, led a team of air and maritime planners to participate in “Integrated Air and Missile Defense War Game IV.” The 613th Air Operations Center, of Pacific Air Forces, hosted the exercise.
