Posted on 04/30/2017 6:32:07 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Sen John McCain said Sunday that the Trump Administration should consider a preemptive strike on North Korea but should only see it as a last resort.
"I think that we have to consider that option as the very last option," the Arizona Republican told CNN on Sunday.
McCain asserted that he doesn’t think the president is currently considering a strike on North Korea but that recent rising tension between the two countries could be a Cuban Missile Crisis in slow motion.
The senator said that the Chinese could have a key role and “put the breaks on this” but says that the US must not allow the situation to escalate any further.
“If they get the weapon and they have the missile we cannot afford to have that threat,” McCain said.
North Korea slammed comments made by Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday, amid rising tension between the US and North Korea.
A statement released by the North Korean Foreign Ministry said Israel was the "only illegal possessor of nukes in the Middle East under the patronage of the US."
The statement also affirmed that North Korea is committed to "fully supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people… establishing of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital."
North Korea warned Israel not to speak out against its regime.
"Israel would be well advised to think twice about the consequences [of] its smear campaign against the DPRK," the statement said, and warned that those who dare "hurt the dignity of its supreme leadership," could face "merciless, thousand-fold punishment."
The statement comes just days after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman called North Korea’s leadership a "crazy and radical group," in an interview with the Hebrew media outlet Walla.
"Kim Jong-un is an ally of Assad. From North Korea, through Iran, to Syria and Hezbollah," Lieberman told Hebrew media last week. Lieberman also asserted that North Korea was "undermining global stability."
Rising Tension
Russia on Friday warned that mounting rhetoric and "reckless muscle-flexing" over North Korea could lead to missteps that would have "frightening consequences."
In comments apparently directed at the United States and Pyongyang, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the UN Security Council the "rhetoric coupled with reckless muscle-flexing has led to a situation where the whole world is seriously wondering whether there is going to be a war or not."
Prior to the meeting, Tillerson said Washington intended to push for a tougher global response to North Korea.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was in New York for the meeting that follows weeks of warnings from the US administration that it will no longer tolerate North Korea's missile launches and nuclear tests.
President Donald Trump has said he would prefer a diplomatic solution, but acknowledged the stand-off is highly dangerous.
"There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely," he told Reuters. "We'd love to solve things diplomatically, but it's very difficult."
First option should be a preemptive strike on McCain and Graham.
How did Arizona go from being represented in the Senate by a truly great American, Barry Goldwater, to kissing the feet of Traitor Scalawag McCain?
First option should be dropping McCain in there via parachute ... or anvil. Whichever.
McDemocRat is a nit wit ! ...
Trump should consider neutering McCain as his first option.
We mock the crazy Muslims, Sharia, & 72 virgins. But How are they any more crazy than McCain, the neocons and the rest? They are a cult of death who want perpetual war and doom.
When they are picking on 3rd World cave dwellers in the ME, that’s bad enough. But, NK could wipe out Seoul and tens of thousands of our soldiers in a minute using standard artillery. Trump needs to shut them, Tillerson,& Haley up ASAP.
Sometimes I which John McCain had staid in the Navy and made admiral. That way somebody could order him to STFU (and cashier his @ss if he didn’t). As a strategic thinker he is solidly in the bottom rank.
McCain sounds like a ,lot of the folks on FR who keep ranting about how Trump hasn't done this and hasn't done that, w/o a clue about why it hasn't been getting done.
Hear that concern trolls - YOU ARE LIKE JOHN MCCAIN!!!
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