Pentagon Seeks to Link Iran, North Korea Citing ‘Similar Looking’ Missiles http://news.antiwar.com/2017/05/04/pentagon-seeks-to-link-iran-north-korea-citing-similar-looking-missiles/ Pacific Commander Complains Non-Nuclear Missiles Aren’t Restricted by Nuclear Deals by Jason Ditz, May 04, 2017 Every failed missile test or official warning by North Korean state media against attacking them is a new excuse for the US to offer loud condemnations and new threats, and while the US also likes to threaten Iran, they really haven’t had much in the way of excuses for doing so in recent weeks.
Pentagon officials are looking to resolve that with testimony to Congress claiming that Iranian missiles look suspiciously similar to North Korean missiles. They don’t offer any proof, of course, that this means anything about them having a common origin, but this is clearly the connection Congress is meant to make.
The attempts at “sort of” connections continued throughout the testimony, with officials citing a North Korean submarine missile launch and noting that Iran is also working on the idea of firing missiles from submarines. Attempts to ratchet up the tensions didn’t stop there.
Pacific Commander Admiral Harry Harris even had the gall to complain that neither Iran nor North Korea were impacted by the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in developing shorter range ballistic missiles. Neither is a signatory to the treaty in the first place, of course, and perhaps even more importantly, the missiles in question aren’t even accused of being nuclear in nature.
Still, the Pentagon has been angling for more money for its wars long enough to know that making things about “nuclear” threats is a way to sell Congress on almost anything, and complaining about Iran not complying with a nuclear treaty, even though the missiles in question are non-nuclear and Iran was never a signatory to it in the first place, is always going to play well.
