President's advisers play down possible N. Korean missile launch

The vice president wants to pursue diplomatic options.
WASHINGTON POST
WASHINGTON -- Senior Bush administration officials tried to ease tensions Thursday over a possible North Korean missile launch, playing down the idea of using the nascent missile defense system and brushing aside a provocative proposal to launch a pre-emptive strike against the missile site.
The officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and national security adviser Stephen Hadley, said they were pressing diplomatic options to persuade North Korea not to launch a long-range missile for the first time since 1998. "We think diplomacy is the right answer, and that is what we are pursuing," Hadley told reporters who were with President Bush in Budapest.
Writing in The Washington Post on Thursday, former defense secretary William Perry and former assistant secretary of defense Ashton Carter contended that diplomacy has failed and that Bush should launch a pre-emptive strike against the facility on the northeastern coast of North Korea, where Pyongyang may be preparing a missile for a test launch.
"I appreciate Bill's advice," Cheney said in an interview with CNN. "I think, obviously, if you're going to launch strikes at another nation, you'd better be prepared to not just fire one shot. And, the fact of the matter is, I think the issue is being addressed appropriately."