Ground invasion only way to beat Kim, says Pentagon
THE Pentagon has warned that a ground invasion would be the only way to totally disarm North Korea.
In an assessment of what war would entail, US military chiefs said Pyongyang could use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons in retaliation.
They said full details of how best to ‘counter North Korea’s ability to respond with a nuclear weapon and eliminate [its] nuclear weapons’ are best suited to a classified briefing.
But in a letter to US politicians, a Pentagon chief said North Korea ‘ has a long- standing chemical weapons program with the capability to produce nerve, blister, blood and choking agents’.
The letter, published in the Washington Post, was written by Rear Admiral Michael Dumont, vice director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, after he was asked for information by two Democrats about the number of casualties that could be expected in a conflict with North Korea. Mr Dumont said calculating ‘even the roughest’ figures would be very difficult.
He added: ‘The only way to locate and destroy – with complete certainty – all components of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs is through a ground invasion.’
Congressmen Ted Lieu and Ruben Gallego, who requested the information, said it ‘ underscores what we’ve known all along – there are no good military options’.
Mr Lieu, in a statement signed by dozens of other politicians, said the assessment was ‘deeply disturbing’ and that a conflict ‘could result in hundreds of thousands, or even millions of deaths in just the first few days’. Donald Trump has frequently taunted Kim Jongun, including calling him ‘Rocket Man’, and suggested military force might be needed.
But in a U-turn last night, he suggested he would be prepared to have talks with the dictator.
‘I don’t think it’s strength or weakness, I think sitting down with people is not a bad thing,’ he told the Full Measure news
‘No good military options’
show. ‘So I would certainly be open to doing that [with Kim] but we’ll see where it goes.’
The President has previously said that rhetoric alone will not solve the North Korea crisis.
He tweeted last month: ‘Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? … I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man.’
Beginning a tour of Asia, Mr Trump told crowds at Yokota Air Base, west of Tokyo, that ‘no one, no dictator, no regime and no nation should underestimate American resolve’.
Meanwhile, Melania Trump headed to Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district yesterday, with Japanese counterpart Akie Abe.