The United States is preparing plans to deliver a ‘bloody nose’ military attack against North Korea’s nuclear program.
The Trump administration is ‘dramatically’ ramping up efforts to confront Pyongyang with military force amid concerns that diplomacy won’t deter Kim Jong-Un from carrying out his nuclear threats, The Telegraph reported on Thursday.
One option is to strike the hermit kingdom’s launch sites before it can carry out another missile test, with another proposal seeking to strike its weapon stockpiles.
The United States said it’s preparing plans to deliver a ‘bloody nose’ military attack against North Korea’s nuclear program
The aim of the preemptive armed campaign is to show the North Korean leader that the US is ‘serious’ about stopping his nuclear program
The aim of the preemptive armed campaign, according to the Telegraph, is to show the North Korean leader that the US is ‘serious’ about stopping his stated goal of attaining a nuclear weapon of mass destruction and persuade him to negotiate.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (pictured) said the chance of Trump attack North Korea jumps 70 per cent Pyongyang decided to test another nuclear missile
The Telegraph cited three three anonymous officials with the plan including one current White House official and two former officials close to the President.
‘The Pentagon is trying to find options that would allow them to punch the North Koreans in the nose, get their attention and show that we’re serious,’ one former official was quoted as saying.
The unnamed source said that President Donald Trump is afraid to order the use military force if necessary.
He pointed to the President’s actions in Syria when he ordered 59 cruise missiles in response to the country’s chemical weapons attack that killed 80 civilians in April.
Last week, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham he believed there was a 30 per cent chance of Trump using a military option.
He warned that number jumps to 70 per cent if North Korea decided to test another nuclear missile.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (pictured) offered a pep talk to American troops, urging them to be ready for any contingency including war with North Korea
A senior British official recently told The Telegraph that he was alarmed at the rhetoric coming from the American administration following a meeting with National Security Adviser HR McMaster along with defense officials.
Earlier Thursday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis offered a pep talk to American troops during rare visit to Guantanamo Bay, urging them to be ready for any contingency including war with North Korea.
Mattis said international efforts to compel North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons are focused for now on diplomacy. He also emphasized that effective diplomacy must be backed by a credible threat of military force.
‘We need to keep this in a diplomatic framework for solution,’ he said. But he added that in the event diplomacy fails, ‘you all have to be ready to go.’
Speaking to a few dozen Marines at a rifle range, Mattis described North Korea as a ‘not yet imminent but a direct threat to the United States.’