Well said in August by McMaster “...The most effective way of preserving peace is to be prepared for war.”
And well said by Mattis Thursday: “I believe that we have to have good, strong defenses with our allies in order to buy time for the diplomats to resolve this situation,” he added. “I think we have to work with our allies to ensure that they know they have no military option, and allow the diplomats to solve the issue.”
Mattis’ bottomline: “...buying time for diplomats to solve the basic problem. And that’s where I’m focused right now.”
buying time for diplomats to solve the basic problem
If he publicly declares that there is no military option, what is the point of buying time with military muscle-flexing, since NK gets the message that there is no chance it will be attacked.
Trump and Chinese president Xi seem to get along very well.
I think there is a good chance that Xi will get rid of Kim Jong Un very soon.
Those poor people in North Korea deserved to be rescued from that evil gang of thugs that make their lives a living hell.
Kim Jung Un is an utterly evil, drug addicted, self indulgent, narcissistic mad man with a "god complex". He is a ruthless dictator in the vein of Hitler and Stalin, he can not be talked to, "reasoned with", or "diplomatically dealt with", period. He is a rabid, mad dog with nuclear and virulent biological weapons who poses a "clear and present danger" and must be "put down" at all costs or the world will BURN, and millions upon millions will die.
The ships can only remain in the area until they need to be resupplied and the usual tour on a carrier is 3-6 months. Kim can wait them out and them resume his favorite thing of playing with rockets & nukes.
A load of ... they’ve been buying time for 50 years.