US army told ‘be ready’ for war

Defence Secretary mixes messages as he remains positive on diplomacy.

United States Defence Secretary Jim Mattis says “storm clouds are gathering” over the Korean Peninsula. And as diplomats try to resolve the nuclear standoff, Mattis says the US military must be ready for war.

He told several dozen soldiers and airmen at the 82nd Airborne Division’s Hall of Heroes at Fort Bragg, North Carolina: “My fine young soldiers, the only way our diplomats can speak with authority and be believed is if you’re ready to go.”

Mattis’ comments came as the UN Security Council unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea, compelling nations to sharply reduce sales of oil to the reclusive country and send home all North Korean expatriate workers within two years. Such workers are seen as a key source of revenue for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s cash-strapped government.

President Donald Trump and other top US officials have made repeated threats about US military action.

“Knowing what went wrong the last time around is as important as knowing your own testing, so that you’re forewarned — you know what I’m driving at here,” Mattis said as soldiers listened in silence. “So you gotta be ready.”

Asked about recent reports that families of US service members in South Korea might be evacuated, Mattis stressed his belief that diplomacy could still avert a crisis. He said there was no plan for an evacuation.

“I don’t think it’s at that point yet,” he said, adding that an evacuation of American civilians would hurt the South Korean economy. He said there was a contingency plan that would get US service members’ families out “on very short notice”.

Mattis said he saw little chance of Kim disrupting the Winter Olympics, which begin in South Korea in February. “I don’t think Kim is stupid enough to take on the whole world by killing their athletes,” he said.

Still, Mattis seemed determined to steel US troops against what could be a costly war on the Korean Peninsula even as he at one point argued that diplomacy is “going positively”.

“There is very little reason optimism,” he said.

The UN Security for Council’s sanctions against North Korea came in response to its latest launch of a ballistic missile that Pyongyang says is capable of reaching anywhere on the US mainland.

The resolution adopted by the council includes sharply lower limits on North Korea’s refined oil imports, the return home of all North Koreans working overseas within 24 months, and a crackdown on ships smuggling banned items including coal and oil to and from the country.

The Trump Administration wants to ban all oil imports and freeze international assets of the government and its leader.