http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3278406a12,00.htmlUS weighs rules for N Korean missile strike
WASHINGTON: The US Defense Department is weighing whether a decision to shoot down any suspected inbound North Korean missile should go all the way to the president, a top general told Congress today.
Marine Gen James Cartwright, commander of the Strategic Command that coordinates US missile defense operations, said the authorization would ideally come from the president and the secretary of defense, but there might not be time enough.
"As you can imagine, getting the president, the secretary, the regional combat commander into a conversation and a conference in a three to four-minute time frame is going to be challenging," Cartwright told the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense. "So what are the rules that we lay down?