Former Vice President Walter Mondale says he supports a pre-emptive U.S. strike against a North Korean missile that is raising nuclear fears around the globe. Mondale said on WCCO-AM Friday that the United States should tell North Korea "defuel that missile. It has three boosters. Dismantle it and put it back in the sheds. Because if you're getting ready to fire this, we'll take it out."Mondale, who's also a former U.S. ambassador to Japan, calls the North Korean missile "one of the most dangerous developments" in recent history. "Nuclear weapons can destroy hundreds of millions of people in one strike - destroy major cities -it is the danger of our time," Mondale said. "Here's this bizarre, hermit kingdom up there, with a paranoid leader getting ready to test a missile system that can hit us. We've got to stop it."
Mondale and other former top Democrats are convinced apparently that action is the key to ending the standoff. "This is such a legitimate thing for the United States to do," Mondale said. "The nature of the threat is so serious that I think we should knock it out right there if they won't stop."