The Great Smoky Mountain Journal
Staff Reports
Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 11:20 AM
National Security Adviser McMaster Says North Korea Strike On U.S. "Impossible To Overstate"
“It’s impossible to overstate the danger associated with a rogue, brutal regime,” McMaster told Hugh Hewitt on the conservative commentator’s MSNBC TV show.
“Are we preparing a plan for a preventive war? … The president has been very clear that he’s not going to tolerate North Korea being able to threaten the U.S. … So of course we have to provide all options to do that, and that includes a military option,” McMaster said.
Still, he said, the United States would like to resolve the situation “short of what would be a very costly war."
The retired Marine general said President Trump has been "deeply briefed" on the strategy on North Korea.
Tensions have mounted with Pyongyang's two recent successful tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles. And Trump has sought help from China and South Korea toward de-escalating the situation.
In the interview, McMaster spoke about several problem spots around the world, including Iran and Venezuela, where residents fighting against an oppressive regime have also raised concerns about U.S. military intervention.The U.N. Security Council was expected to vote on a new sanctions resolution that would increase economic pressure on North Korea to return to negotiations on its missile program.
McMaster said “democracy is now over in Venezuela” but significantly downplayed the potential of a military operation from neighboring countries or the United States.
“I don’t see an outside military intervention,” he said
