Posted on 07/30/2017 7:21:41 AM PDT by mandaladon
The U.S. and its allies are prepared to use “rapid, lethal and overwhelming force,” if necessary, against North Korea, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Air Forces warned Saturday night.
The statement from Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, U.S. Pacific Air Forces commander, came after the militaries of the U.S., South Korea and Japan spent 10 hours conducting bomber-jet drills over the Korean Peninsula.
The training mission was a response to North Korea’s recent ballistic missile launches and nuclear program, and part of the U.S. regular commitment to defending its allies in the Asia-Pacific region, the general’s statement said.
“North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability,” O’Shaughnessy said.
“Diplomacy remains the lead,” he said. “However, we have a responsibility to our allies and our nation to showcase our unwavering commitment while planning for the worst-case scenario.
“If called upon,” he added, “we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing.”
North Korea conducted test launches of ICBMs on July 3 and July 28, and has claimed that its weapons can now reach the U.S. mainland.
The country’s recent actions have drawn condemnation from President Trump, and prompted U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to confer with counterparts from South Korea and Japan to develop a response, Fox News has reported.
Both Trump and Tillerson have criticized China, saying the Beijing government has failed to use its influence to discourage North Korea from developing its nuclear program, Fox News reported.
On Saturday, two U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers, under the command of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, joined counterparts from the South Korean and Japanese air forces in sequenced bilateral missions.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Give one warning, then attack.
Send the bill for support to those who would not help.
Its inevitable - Decapitation will work once the cult of personality is gone. They won’t know what to do except launch which will suck but its better to have it suck now than in 1,2,5 years from now. Kim has got to go. there is no way around.
I can’t see how the US, as powerful as it is, will be able to knock out all of North Korea’s artillery batteries and fire control systems. So in any attack the South will suffer greatly.
Hopefully all this saber-rattling is meant to wake China up, and perhaps get them to sponsor a coup against Little Kim.
If we had kept the neutron bomb, the NK artillery would be eliminated in seconds. Unfortunately....
They no doubt have spent this time redirecting all available satellites to focus on potential targets in N. Korea...
NK’s neighbors should have wiped it off the face of the earth years ago. China just messed themselves over and ticked off Trump so no more perks for them. I don’t give a rat’s behind if Japan pinkie swore they wouldn’t go to war - enough is enough. The US shouldn’t have to be mama and papa to the world.
Would China stay out of it if enough countries take part. India would be most interesting-doubt it. Seoul would need warning to evacuate-maybe a practice run first.
There's certainly no shortage of dumb pills in this country.
If we don’t go in full scorched earth, it’ll end up like the ME for the next 100 years. Enough with the pansy ashed zero shock and awe. Make NK the wake up call the world needs that America is Great again.
Yeah,the first year of WWII in the Pacific was a cakewalk. /sarc
Yes, and the dimwits here haven’t a clue. I bet every single artillery installtion has been mapped and targeted by us.
The fact that North Korea developed an ICBM capable of hitting most of the United States under Obama and demonstrated their capabilities in the opening six months of President Trump's first term should concern us all.
The fact that our intelligence services have failed us so miserably where NK is concerned I guess shouldn't surprise any of us given the then Obama Administration's "policies" towards those who clearly stated America as their enemy of which North Korea was one. I'm not calling for open war, not beating the war drums here and not advocating for military intervention immediately. I am being cautious with eyes wide open as to what North Korea is demonstrably capable of doing which in fact endangers American lives both home and abroad.
I am saying that nothing should be off the table where the Nork's are concerned. If it takes a swift, decisive war using tactical nukes for example to protect a direct and imminent threat to America or our allies abroad then I'm all for it.
This is what our world became under the neglectful leadership of Obama, Bush and Clinton where North Korea is concerned. Their placating North Korea, continuing to feed them for example is what got us here. Then there's China's role as "trading partner" which should've been nipped in the bud decades ago by not allowing China "most favored nation" status as a "trading partner" to the U.S. which should've been shut down to get them to act on North Korea but again, that's incompetent leadership from both parties in in the White House over decades now.
Personally I'll blame any war that comes (if it comes at all) against North Korea on the incompetence of Obama, Bush and Clinton. Right or wrong, that's my opinion.
> Give one warning? <
To be fair, a serious warning might push China - or the North Korean high command - into staging a relatively bloodless coup.
Of course they are. Every bit of evidence indicates kim jong un will blackmail and/or act once he gets his icbm nuke. And he’ll give it to iran.
A credible war plan is now our only option, sad as i am to say that.
In both Gulf Wars,the USA telegraphed military options,re-wrote lines in the sand and huffed and puffed with useless resolutions. Hussein still managed to escape. Ultimately it cost over 5000 American lives because we failed to decapitate the monster. OPSEC means very little anymore. The resumption of the Korean War very well may be bloody and costly as the Norks are entrenching even further.
They won’t. No matter what happens in a conflict with NK, destruction and casualties in Seoul will be high, but that alone will not spell victory for NK nor defeat for SK. NK will be made a wasteland not even China will want to pick up the pieces of. Yet, just what China will do will remain the “elephant in the room” question.
Some are not sure China won't retaliate against us. What say you?
Given the map of the Korean peninsula and the unfinished “state of war” for the last 60 years, I am constantly baffled by why South Korea doesn’t seem to have made contingency plans. Their capital has swollen to more than 25 million and sits less than 40 miles from the NoKo border. Undeniably, the size and location of Seoul is the major Achilles heel in any potential confrontation with the North. The succession of South Korean leadership over the last several decades seems to have ignored this inconvenient truth. Why haven’t they considered shifting critical government and financial resources - not to mention large swaths of population - outside of the NoKo’s artillery range? Scratching my head...
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