North Korea Wants to Test Our Anti-Missile System

North Korea is thinking about launching a long range missile test that could actually overfly U.S. territory. James Robbins has a post at The Corner with an idea that I thought about myself earlier this evening:

If the North Koreans follow tradition, they will test their new long range missile by firing it through the air space of another country, probably Japan, maybe the U.S. too if they can reach Alaska. Sounds like a great opportunity to test our missile -defense technology. North Korea has no right to test weapons over other countries, so they won't have a leg to stand on legally. And it would be a great statement of our resolve to stand up to their aggressive behavior. Finally, it would be a high-profile way to demonstrate the effectiveness of our missile-defense systems. For example the Airborne Laser system is up for a flight test this year. Why not make it count?

I like that idea, but of course the risk is a failure in our anti-missile system which might make us look pretty silly. It would be nice to know, though, whether the system works in a real test.