Bowl Cut Jr. launches Norks' new 'capable' missile

You don't suppose a missile attack on a U.S. aircraft carrier would be enough to bring Barack Obama out of his "strategic patience" and actually take some sort of serious action against North Korea, do you?

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Probably not, since I don't think Obama wants to seriously take on any foe regardless of the circumstances. But at least according to North Korea's state-controlled propaganda media (as opposed to our loosely-affiliated-with-the-state propaganda media), Bowl Cut Jr. is testing rockets that might put the scenario into play. It looks, however, like these new "cutting-edge" missiles may have merely been purchased from our good pal Vladimir Putin:

State media described it as a "new type of cutting-edge anti-ship rocket" developed by North Korean scientists that will "bring a great change in the navy's defense of territorial waters". The missile appeared identical in design to a Russian anti-ship missile, the KH-35, which is capable of flying at high speeds meters above the sea. "It looks exactly like a KH-35," said Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Monterey Institute of International Studies. Last June, Lewis was the first to spot what appeared to be an unconfirmed glimpse of the missile in a North Korean propaganda video."It is a capable anti-ship cruise missile that puts some teeth in recent statements about developing anti-ship capabilities," said Lewis, referring to North Korean naval exercises last month that state media said were designed to target U.S. aircraft carriers.

Now let's offer the usual caveats that the Norks are the biggest saber-rattlers on the face of the Earth, and that they've perfected the art of doing this stuff in order to get everyone worked up and upset, only to offer to stop in exchnage for food aid or whatever. The U.S. has fallen for the gambit time and again - regardless of which party controlled the White House - and in all likelihood that's probably what's happening here. But keep a couple of things in mind. First, if North Korea is willing to launch cyber-attacks on U.S. corporations, it means you can't necessarily conclude that they're always bluffing all the time. Second, we still don't know enough about Kim Jong Un to say with certainty where the line is that he won't cross - or if he even has one. This guy inherited the position of North Korean dictator at the age of 29 and from all appearances came to the job completely unprepared, relying largely on his instincts to eliminate any and all rivals. Third, what would stop someone like Kim from going ahead and taking out a U.S. aircraft carrier? The fear of consequences, right? Do you really think he fears any serious consequences as long as Obama is president? Does anyone?