The land once governed by Sarah Palin may yet yield more riches: protection from North Korea's likely nonexistent nuclear missiles. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced on Friday that the Pentagon will add 14 missile-interceptors to Alaska's Fort Greely base at the cost of about $1 billion, pending Congressional approval.

The move, which Fox News got wind of yesterday, comes after North Korea's latest missile test. Though government officials have dismissed North Korea's threats -- including a preemptive nuclear strike -- as "hyperbolic" and "bellicose rhetoric," they seems to think the country has the potential to develop something capable of reaching America down the line. The inceptors should protect against that, though the New York Times noted that "the antimissile systems are considered less than reliable." Best to have as many of them as possible, then.

Vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral James Winnefeld Jr., also spoke at the press conference, warning Kim Jong-un with the ferocity (and wording) of my English grandfather: "this young lad ought to be deterred by that. And if he's not, we'll be ready."  

If Jong-un is deterred, that would be the first time since he took over as Supreme Leader.

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Sara Morrison