SPIN ON - AT 3:18 P.M. ET:  Some of the dovish persuasion are trying to spin yesterday's North Korean rocket launch as a failure.  Nothing to worry about.  Nothing to see.  Please move on.  But the facts may well be very different:  From AP, via Fox News:

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's rocket may have fallen into the sea, but military experts cautioned Monday against calling it a complete failure, pointing out that it traveled twice as far as any missile the country has launched.

Although the distance was still far short of showing North Korea could reach U.S. territory, it rattled the North's neighbors and countries around the globe, with the U.S. and its allies pushing for quick punishment at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting held hours after the launch.

The launch, which demonstrated progress, is a particularly worrying development for a belligerent country that says it has nuclear weapons and once threatened to turn Seoul into a "sea of fire."

COMMENT:  A former Air Force general and missile expert said on Fox TV today that to dismiss this test as a failure misses the point.  Each test advances the North Korean program.  Things are learned.  And the range of the North Korean missiles is obviously increasing.  Soon they will be a threat to the western United States.

April 6, 2009