James Mattis on North Korea
BY EMILE SIMPSON
SEPTEMBER 4, 2017
... James Mattis delivered a pithy response on Sunday to North Korea’s nuclear test ... "Any threat to the United States or its territories including Guam or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming."
Global markets barely moved upon opening .. Monday .. consistent with .. treatment of these words as .. more of the same from Washington. But that is to misinterpret Mattis, whose words represent a significant escalation in .. The probability of a U.S. strike on North Korea ...
... We have become accustomed to Trump’s remarks being contradicted by members of his administration, or by his own subsequent statements. But not so with Mattis, who is one of the most highly respected military officers of his generation. When Mattis speaks, you listen to each word. And the two key words in Mattis’ statement were “will be”: Not “might be”, but will be. That tells us that if North Korea makes a threat that meets the administration’s definition, the next step is a .. strike, rather than .. diplomacy.
... Trump said on August 8 that threats “to the United States” would trigger a .. military response. Since then, North Korea has threatened Guam .. and flown a missile over Japan, but has been careful not to cross Trump’s line by threatening the U.S. mainland directly. Mattis’ statement makes clear that now any threat to Guam or U.S. allies like South Korea or Japan will trigger a U.S. strike. So the bar for what will trigger a .. strike has been lowered ...
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/04/james-mattis-just-out-trumped-trump-on-north-korea/
= new reply since forum marked as read