{"id":111636,"date":"2017-08-13T22:19:05","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T02:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=111636"},"modified":"2017-08-13T22:19:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-14T02:19:05","slug":"us-officials-say-confrontation-with-nkorea-not-imminent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/08\/13\/us-officials-say-confrontation-with-nkorea-not-imminent\/","title":{"rendered":"US officials say confrontation with NKorea not imminent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\u201cWe're<\/a>
\u201cWe’re not closer to war than a week ago but we are closer to war than we were a decade ago,\u201d McMaster said, adding that the Trump administration is prepared to deal militarily with North Korea if necessary.
(Shutterstock Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. national security officials said Sunday that a military confrontation with North Korea’s is not imminent, but they cautioned that the possibility of war is greater than it was a decade ago.<\/p>\n

CIA Director Mike Pompeo and Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, President Trump’s national security adviser, tried to provide assurances that a conflict is avoidable, while also supporting Trump’s tough talk. They said the United States and its allies no longer can afford to stand by as North Korea pushes ahead with the development of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re not closer to war than a week ago but we are closer to war than we were a decade ago,\u201d McMaster said, adding that the Trump administration is prepared to deal militarily with North Korea if necessary.<\/p>\n

But he stressed that the U.S. is pursuing \u201ca very determined diplomatic effort\u201d led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that’s coupled with new financial sanctions to dissuade North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from further provocations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. military is locked and loaded every day,\u201d McMaster said, repeating Trump’s threat.<\/p>\n

Pompeo said \u201cthere’s nothing imminent today,\u201d in response to a question about how worried should people be over the escalating tensions. He said the U.S. has a \u201cpretty good idea\u201d of North Korea’s intentions, but Pompeo declined to provide specifics. The CIA chief described Kim as \u201crational\u201d and responsive to \u201cadverse circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reaction in North Korea that we are intending to get is an is an understanding that America is no longer going to have the strategic patience that it’s had that has permitted him to continue to develop his weapons program,\u201d Pompeo said. \u201cIt’s that straightforward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The top U.S. military officer, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, is travelling in Asia and expected to meet with leaders in South Korea, Japan and China. Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters travelling with him that he aims to \u201csense what the temperature is in the region.\u201d He also will discuss military options in the event the \u201cdiplomatic and economic pressurization campaign\u201d fails.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re all looking to get out of this situation without a war,\u201d Dunford said.<\/p>\n

China’s president, Xi Jinping, made a plea for cool-headedness in a phone conversation with Trump on Saturday, urging both sides to avoid words or actions that could worsen the situation.<\/p>\n

The call came after Trump made fresh threats against North Korea on Friday, declaring the U.S. military \u201clocked and loaded\u201d and warning Kim that he \u201cwill regret it fast\u201d if he takes any action against U.S. territories or allies.<\/p>\n

Trump has pushed China to pressure North Korea to halt a nuclear weapons program that is nearing the capability of targeting the United States. China is the North’s biggest economic partner and source of aid, but says it alone can’t compel its wayward ally to end its nuclear and missile programs.<\/p>\n

The White House said in a statement that Trump and Xi \u201cagreed North Korea must stop its provocative and escalatory behaviour.\u201d It also said that the two \u201creiterated their mutual commitment to denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.\u201d<\/p>\n

State-run China Central Television quoted Xi as telling Trump the \u201crelevant parties must maintain restraint and avoid words and deeds that would exacerbate the tension on the Korean Peninsula.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Trump on Friday appeared to set another red line — the mere utterance of threats — that would trigger a U.S. attack against North Korea and \u201cbig, big trouble\u201d for Kim.<\/p>\n

North Korea’s Minju Joson newspaper said in an editorial Saturday that the North’s army is \u201ccapable of fighting any war the U.S. wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tough talk capped a week in which long-standing tensions between the countries risked abruptly boiling over.<\/p>\n

New U.N. sanctions condemning North Korea’s rapidly developing nuclear program drew fresh ire and threats from the North. Trump, responding to a report that U.S. intelligence indicates Pyongyang can now put a nuclear warhead on its long-range missiles, vowed to rain down \u201cfire and fury\u201d if challenged.<\/p>\n

The North then came out with a threat to lob four intermediate-range \u201cHwasong-12\u201d missiles near Guam, a tiny U.S. territory some 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometres) from the North’s capital, Pyongyang.<\/p>\n

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., welcomed Trump’s pugnacious approach, arguing that many of the president’s critics failed to stop North Korea from developing a nuclear weapon that could hit the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump inherited a mess,\u201d Graham said. \u201cAll those smart people who are criticizing his rhetoric and his policy, how well did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pompeo and Graham were on \u201cFox News Sunday,\u201d and McMaster appeared on ABC’s \u201cThis Week.\u201d<\/p>\n

——<\/p>\n

Associated Press photojournalist Andrew Harnik in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

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