NoKo’s Hwasong 15, the Unexpected ICBM Launch

SEOUL, South Korea — The intercontinental ballistic missile North Korea launched this week was a new type of missile bigger and more powerful than any the country had tested before, South Korean officials said on Thursday.

Photos from the North’s official Korean Central News Agency are providing valuable clues about the capabilities of the missile, named the Hwasong-15. North Korea said it carried a “super-large heavy warhead which is capable of striking the whole mainland of the U.S.”

North Korea’s Hwasong series represents the most successful and formidable part of its ballistic missile arsenal, and photographs of the test suggested improvements over the Hwasong-14, a missile first tested over the summer that showed the country’s capacity to strike the continental United States.

Private analysts agreed that the Hwasong-15 looked bigger and more powerful than the Hwasong-14.

NoneAP

South Korean defense officials say North Korea runs more than 160 mobile missile launching vehicles and is building more. Such vehicles make it easier to hide and transport missiles and harder for the United States and its allies to track signs of imminent missile attacks.

NoneAP

In a report published Thursday, Mr. Elleman said his “initial calculations indicate the new missile could deliver a moderately sized nuclear weapon to any city on the U.S. mainland.”

But he also said the North Koreans would need to conduct additional tests to establish the Hwasong-15’s reliability. And like other aerospace experts, Mr. Elleman pointed out that North Korea had yet to show it had mastered technology to ensure a missile warhead survives the rigors of violent re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Still, he said, “if low confidence in the missile’s reliability is acceptable, two or three test firings over the next four to six months may be all that is required before Kim Jong-un declares the Hwasong-15 combat ready.” More here.

 Construction work has been seen at a launch site near the North Korean capital

 The images seem to show Kim has no plans to curb his nuclear ambitions

According to the ImageSat analysts, who are closely following North Korean military activity, this is “the first time that they have decided to rebuild a site that they have used before.”

The photos, dated Nov. 23 and 24, appear to show the development of another launch pad just a few yards away from the one used during the July 4 Hwasong-14 ICBM launch, as well as a newly renovated access road.

***

North Korea has also continued work on its submarine-launched ballistic missile program, according to new analysis on Friday, also from 38 North. Satellite images show that the country is preparing to deploy one of its submersible test stand barges, presumably to work on or conduct an underwater ICBM launch. The country also continues to produce fissile material for its weapons.

***

While there is some dispute about the exact capabilities of the HS-15, it appears that the missile is so large—and indeed North Korean statements explicitly state the weapon is designed to carry a “super heavy” [3] warhead—that it might irrelevant if Pyongyang possesses warhead miniaturization technology or not. In fact, by some estimates, North Korea has intentionally overbuild the HS-15 so that future variants might be able to carry multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRV).

Other than the massive size of the HS-15—which appears to be comparable in size to the Soviet SS-19 Stiletto or SS-24 Scalpel—there are some visible technological advancements.

“The single biggest technological change I see in the missile is the absence of verniers (separate, small steering engines). It looks like they have gimbaled engines now,” Pollack said.

“That’s a significant advance. I wouldn’t rule out the involvement of foreign specialists there. We already know they’ve collaborated with Iran on some missile projects. Not that Iran has ever shown off this particular technology…”

The launch vehicle might have been developed with Chinese help however—or at least modified from Chinese supplied equipment.

“The chassis looks familiar – it’s a nine-axle version of the eight-axle chassis the Chinese supplied earlier. The NKs may have managed to modify one of the six or so chassis they have on hand,” Pollack said. “(The cab has been altered, too.) I doubt they have really learned to build these from scratch – they’ve been putting far too much effort into building big trucks instead for this purpose. If they’ve already got better technology, why bother doing that?” More here.

Why Not Release the Files on Historical Govt Scandals

We almost got ‘all’ the documents declassified and released on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Even so, many of the pages had redactions. The true reason as to why remains fleeting.

So, what other files of historical federal or political scandals should be released?

How about the ATF gunwalking scandal?

The IRS targeting scandal maybe?

The Obama/Blagojevich pay to play case?

What about all the details behind who invaded Sharyl Attkisson’s computer?

Do we know everything about Tony Rezko?

Oh, how about the Iran-Contra Affair?

Old enough to remember the Savings and Loan Scandal?

Image result for savings and loan scandal thousands of banks

Maybe the Abscam case perhaps?

Ah yes, after many books, what about Watergate and Deep Throat?

Ted Kennedy and Chappaquiddick?

Image result for kennedy chappaquiddick

Each day brings us a little more detail on constant scandals or corruption within the Federal government. What is to be learned from declassification and full release is detail bringing American citizens closer to understanding the wider and deeper scale of lies, coverups and just where we can assume always we only get snippets of truth, where context is fleeting.

So, what about that pesky full release of Jeffrey Epstein and the Lolita Express? Do we even have a full understanding of cyber attacks?

No dynasty is more filled with scandal than the Clinton machine. Benghazi, the secret server Huma Abedin or the Clinton Foundation are just part of that list. You know there are many deaths associated with that name as well as corruption but remember the Whitewater scandal?

The nation’s second-most powerful court sided with the government Friday in its decision not to release draft indictments prepared against Hillary Clinton during the Whitewater scandal of the mid-1990s.

A unanimous three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the conservative group Judicial Watch failed to show “exception interests” that would warrant disclosure of the documents.

The watchdog group filed a Freedom of Information Act Request with the National Archives and Records Administration in 2015 for two draft indictments that reportedly arose from the Office of Independent Counsel investigation into the Clinton’s real estate investments in Arkansas and contributions made to the real estate entity Whitewater Development Corporation.

Judicial Watch claims the indictments show Clinton’s involvement in alleged fraudulent transactions.

But the National Archives denied their request and said Clinton’s privacy interests outweigh the public’s interest in the matter.

In fighting the agency’s decision, Judicial Watch argued that Clinton’s privacy interests are minimal given her previous positions as first lady, United States senator and then secretary of State.

Judge Judith Rogers disagreed.

“As indicated during oral argument, it is difficult to imagine circumstances where a draft indictment could ever be disclosed without seriously infringing an individual’s privacy interest,” she wrote in affirming the lower court’s decision to keep the documents concealed.

“Having never been formally ‘accused of criminal conduct’ by the Independent Counsel, Mrs. Clinton, no less than an individual who has been charged but not convicted, is ‘entitled to move on with her life without having the public reminded of her alleged but never proven transgressions.’”

***

There are a mere 23 pages that are in dispute under the secret protection by the National Archives and Records Administration where a lawsuit was brought by Judicial Watch. Timing is everything, the lawsuit was filed in October of 2015….ah interesting, the early part of the presidential campaign season…hummm.

What Federal scandal files do you want to have access to without the redactions? There are always more explosive details that have remained secret on cases. We need to further understand all the players, the timelines and most especially the context.

 

DoJ Issues an Arrest Warrant of Jose Zarate, Steinle’s Killer

The Department of Justice issued an arrest warrant in the U.S. District Court in Texas for Jose Garcia Zarate for a supervised release violation.

Image result for jose zarate photo

His original criminal complaint filed in May of 2016, shows that Zarate’s criminal history in the United States goes back to 1993.

San Francisco owns this, meanwhile:

The San Francisco Superior Court knew this case would be such a big event, they issued a MEDIA GUIDE.

Zarate was acquitted of first and second degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and found not guilty of an assault with a weapon. He was only guilty of possessing a firearm by a felon.

Now under the Department of Justice, ICE will take custody of of Mr. Garcia where U.S. Marshals will transport him under the arrest warrant pursuant to the Western District of Texas. This arrest warrant was originally issued in 2015 and has been amended since that time with additional charges.

Image result for kate steinle photo

While we grieve for Kate and her family:

The timeline since he was acquitted for the murder of Kate Steinle:

SAN FRANCISCO — Latest on the trial of a Mexican man in a killing on a San Francisco pier (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

A federal judge in Texas has unsealed an arrest warrant for the Mexican man found not guilty of killing a woman on a San Francisco pier.

U.S. District Judge Alia Moses unsealed the warrant for Jose Ines Garcia Zarate on Friday. It was issued in July 2015 after Garcia Zarate was arrested in the slaying of Kate Steinle days earlier on a San Francisco pier.

Garcia Zarate had been convicted in federal court of illegally re-entering the U.S. and was on supervised release at the time of Steinle’s slaying. Federal officials allege the Steinle shooting violated the terms of his supervision.

The Justice Department has said it will look at possible illegal re-entry and/or violation of supervised release charges against Garcia Zarate after jurors in San Francisco acquitted him of murder in Steinle’s shooting.

12:15 p.m.

The office of Mayor Ed Lee issued a statement that San Francisco is and always will be a “Sanctuary City” as thousands of Twitter users bashed a verdict finding a Mexican man not guilty of killing a woman.

Lee did not elaborate in the statement issued Friday.

Two former city supervisors also defended San Francisco’s sanctuary policy, which prohibits local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

California state Sen. Scott Wiener says that public safety is improved when people who are in the country illegally can go to police without fear of deportation.

David Campos, who now chairs the San Francisco Democratic Party, said the jury system worked.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate was released from jail despite a federal immigration detainer request in 2015 and months later, he shot and killed Kate Steinle on a city pier.

9:30 a.m.

The Justice Department is considering bringing federal charges against a Mexican man found not guilty of killing a woman on a San Francisco pier.

Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores tells Fox News that the U.S. Attorney General’s Office is looking at every option to prosecute Jose Ines Garcia Zarate “to the fullest extent available under the law because.”

A Department of Justice official says federal prosecutors will look at possible illegal re-entry and/or violation of supervised release charges.

A San Francisco jury on Thursday found Garcia Zarate not guilty of killing Kate Steinle in a case that touched off a national immigration debate.