STUNNING - AT 7:28 A.M. ET:  This is outraging a number of military officers.  From the great Bill Gertz at the Washington Times:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates denied permission for the U.S. Northern Command to use the Pentagon's most powerful sea-based radar to monitor North Korea's recent missile launch, precluding officials from collecting finely detailed launch data or testing the radar in a real-time crisis, current and former defense officials said.

Jamie Graybeal, Northcom public affairs director, confirmed to The Washington Times that Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, the Northcom commander, requested the radar's use but referred all other questions to the Pentagon.

COMMENT:  One reason given by sources is that the deployment of the super radar might have provoked the North Koreans.  Once again the new administration blinks.  Barely a day goes by without another story of new American softness.  You'll notice that the North Korean launch came and went, with merely a wrist tap in response by the "international community."  As the kids used to chant in the sixties, "the whole world is watching."

April 15, 2009