Focus on beefing up missile defense, not a pre-emptive strike, against North Korea

September 8, 2017

The Hill:

The most urgent military question facing our country is what military response should be made to North Korea’s seemingly unstoppable drive to develop sophisticated nuclear warheads and the missiles that could deliver them to Seoul or Tokyo, or even to cities in mainland America.

Certainly U.S. diplomatic power should continue to be fully exerted. But the U.S. and its allies have sought a diplomatic solution, employing both economic sanctions and financial incentives, for more than two decades. Despite those efforts, North Korea continues to press forward on its nuclear weapons program.

This frustrating history is no doubt the reason President Trump said that “talking is not the answer” to the problem. Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis has said that the U.S. has “many military options” regarding North Korea. But, if diplomacy fails, what military options does the U.S. in fact have?

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