BACK TO REALITY – AT 9:56 A.M. ET:  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is one of the grown-ups in the Obama administration.   He warns us about North Korea, a subject most Americans don't think about when they go to bed at night, but should:

BEIJING — In a major new assessment of North Korea, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on Tuesday that the country is becoming a direct threat to the United States and was within five years of developing a missile with the potential of hitting Alaska or the West Coast. 

A critically important point.  We're used to the media describing countries like North Korea and Iran as threats to their neighbors, which tends to diminish our concern here.  But modern technology makes them threats to us as well, and very direct threats. 

Mr. Gates said that although he expected North Korea’s ability to be limited, he anticipated the country would still develop within that time frame a small number of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could at least potentially deliver nuclear warheads. “I don’t think it’s an immediate threat, but on the other hand I don’t think it’s a five-year threat,” Mr. Gates said.

Mr. Gates made his comments during a visit to Beijing on the same day that China, in a show of force for the United States, apparently conducted the first test flight of its new stealth fighter jet. The 15-minute flight occurred just hours before Mr. Gates met with President Hu Jintao to talk about improving relations between the Chinese and American militaries and ways to reduce tensions during a nascent arms buildup between the two countries.

COMMENT:  The Chinese fighter comes at a time when we've eliminated production of our F-22 stealth fighter. 

The White House has ordered the Defense Department to cut its budget.  While there are probably some savings to be had, we should take a warning from history and not place outselves in a position where we are unprepared.  North Korea, though a poor country, still has a devastating military force.  It starves its people to devote resources to its forces, as did the Soviet Union.

China is becoming a major military threat, and it's barely discussed in the United States.

Both China and North Korea see a weakening United States, and they are responding accordingly.

January 11, 2011