Democrats perturbed by Trump’s threat of pre-emptive North Korea strike
Democrats in Congress say they are concerned that Donald Trump does not understand the consequences of a pre-emptive strike on North Korea and believes there is a military solution to the nuclear standoff.
On his visit to Seoul on Tuesday, Trump repeated his warnings to Pyongyang and pointed to the array of US military hardware gathering around the Korean peninsula. In doing so, he took the unusual step of revealing the presence of a “nuclear submarine” in the region, without clarifying whether he meant a nuclear-armed or nuclearpowered vessel.
But in his remarks in Seoul, Trump also left the door open for possible talks. “It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and to make a deal that’s good for the people of North Korea and the people of the world”, he said. The comments marked a reversal of his earlier insistence that talks with Pyongyang were “a waste of time” but Democratic critics of the president expressed concern that Trump’s apparent conversion to diplomacy might be fleeting and illusory.
“The president’s rhetoric during his trip has been uncharacteristically diplomatic but let’s not kid ourselves. The braggadocio and the loose talk is going to come back the minute that he is alone inside the residence upon his return”, Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, told reporters. Members of Congress have been unnerved by briefings from the administration on North Korea that appeared to put an emphasis on possible military options and downplay the potential for dialogue.
“It frightens me that they think there is such a thing as a limited strike on North Korea”, Ruben Gallego, a marine combat veteran and Democratic congressman from Arizona, said.
Gallego and fellow congressman Ted Lieu wrote to the Pentagon in September to ask for its assessment of the impact of any North Korean retaliation for a US strike. The reply, signed by Rear Admiral Michael Dumont, vice-director of the joint staff, pointed out: “The only way to locate and destroy – with complete certainty – all components of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programmes is through a ground invasion.” (Theguardian.com/ Foto: www.theguardian.com)