Mattis, Trump, China, Enhanced Nuclear Capabilities versus sub-par Missile Defense

Defense Secretary Mattis it abundantly clear to North Korean hereditary leader KIM Jong-un that the survival of his regime and the starving people he cruelly rules could face extinction.

After all North Korea has a limited number of nuclear devices including suspected nuclear warheads for its burgeoning ICBM capability which still needs deflective heat shields to achieve its offensive capability.

In the face of possible Chinese assistance that is rapidly becoming a reality. As Gordan Chang argued in a CBSN interview yesterday that might happen even before the DIA assessment that mid- 2018 might see a possible test launch of an ICBM equipped with a dummy nuclear warhead. Intelligence estimates are that tit has fissile material for upwards of 60 nuclear devices with possible 20 to 30 nuclear devices.

Certainly no match for an estimated 7,000 nuclear tipped missiles in the US inventory liked the advanced version of the nearly 50 year old Minuteman IIIs in secure underground silos, a version of which was test launched recently.

President Trump’s followup to his earning of “fire and fury” was to talk of upgrading our offensive nuclear capability. CNN noted his tweet today this morning saying:

“My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before,” Trump wrote just before 8 a.m. ET from his golf resort here. “Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!”

“Trump was apparently referring to a review of US nuclear weapons that began earlier this year, which he directed Defense Secretary James Mattis to undertake in a presidential memorandum signed during a January visit to the Pentagon.”

Curious given the posts of our comments and those of a former senior defense official in Lisa Benson’s Times of Israel blog post and those of the CBSN interview with China-North Korea expert, Gordon Chang . If any thing needs upgrading pronto it is our “sub-par” ballistic missile defense system we have posted on for years in the NER and especially in 2014 through today.

We note the statement of the Chinese Foreign Ministry today in the wake of these exchange between North Korean and the US threatening mutual annihilation on the Korean Peninsula and in the US territory of Guam:

“China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said parties should “avoid remarks and actions that could aggravate conflicts and escalate tensions.”

“China calls on all relevant sides to uphold the broad direction of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue through political means.”

China doesn’t want North Korea to be completely out of control even though there is suspicion that it has provided the mobile erectors and some of the advanced missiles that have achieved ICBM launch successes in July.

After all it views North Korean missile testing as a chip in the game to extract for its own geo-political game it is playing in the South China Sea with the US, South Korea and Japan, threatening Viet Nam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia. It also views a reunified Korea as a threat under US backed South Korea if regime change occurred in Pyongyang.

China also has to be brought to account for its money laundering for North Korea to raise funds to buy or build those missiles ad launch erectors. Feeble attempt by our Treasury in late June attacking one small Chinese bank is not enough.

There are bigger fish involved in this financial jiggery pokery between China and north Korea . Moreover, as the Wall Street Journal in today;s edition and Gordon Chang has pointed out China’s thought control over US internet social media companies that amounts to denial of free speech and censorship imperils the value of US companies intellectual property rights. Doing business in China with its vast and growing consumer market is fraught with peril because of the lack of the rule of recognition of US and international contract law.

We note in closing viewing one cable tv news out sent a news journalist skampering from South Korea to Agana, Guam. He noted that hotel accomodations were hard to come by with the flood of both South Korean and Japanese tourists. He said that US immigration officials engaged in some gallow humor asking “do you think we are under attack.” Guam’s Anderson AFB is home to those B-1 Lancer Bombers that overflew the Korean peninsula on Tuesday.

Here’s The Hill report on Secretary Mattis’ well crafted interpretation of President trump’s fire and fury remarks.

Defense Secretary James Mattis warned North Korea in stark terms on Wednesday that it faces devastation if it does not end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“The DPRK must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons,” Mattis said in a statement, referring to North Korea.

“The DPRK should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.”

Mattis’s remarks follow bellicose comments from President Trump warning North Korea of “fire and fury” if it takes aggressive steps toward the United States.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that North Korea had obtained the capability of creating a nuclear warhead small enough to place on a missile.

Mattis’s remarks could be part of a coordinated effort with the White House to send a tough signal to both North Korea and China, the reclusive country’s main ally.

North Korea has responded to Trump’s comments with its own tough rhetoric. On Tuesday, it suggested it could launch an attack on Guam.

Mattis makes note of Trump’s involvement in the tense situation and writes that the president “was informed of the growing threat last December and on taking office his first orders to me emphasized the readiness of our ballistic missile defense and nuclear deterrent forces.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters on Wednesday that Trump was seeking to send a “strong message” to North Korea that the United States was prepared to defend itself and its allies.

But Mattis made the point in much more direct language on Wednesday.

“The United States and our allies have the demonstrated capabilities and unquestionable commitment to defend ourselves from an attack,” he wrote.

“While our State Department is making every effort to resolve this global threat through diplomatic means, it must be noted that the combined allied militaries now possess the most precise, rehearsed and robust defensive and offensive capabilities on Earth,” he said in the statement. “The DPRK regime’s actions will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates.”

North Korea would have the capability to devastate much of South Korea in any military exchange with the United States. This knowledge has been a deterrent on any use of force against Pyongyang.

Mattis’s full statement:

“The United States and our allies have the demonstrated capabilities and unquestionable commitment to defend ourselves from an attack. Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council’s unified voice, and statements from governments the world over, who agree the DPRK poses a threat to global security and stability. The DPRK must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The DPRK should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.

“President Trump was informed of the growing threat last December and on taking office his first orders to me emphasized the readiness of our ballistic missile defense and nuclear deterrent forces. While our State Department is making every effort to resolve this global threat through diplomatic means, it must be noted that the combined allied militaries now possess the most precise, rehearsed and robust defensive and offensive capabilities on Earth. The DPRK regime’s actions will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates.”

Mattis warns North Korea of ‘destruction of its people’

Defense Secretary James Mattis warned North Korea in stark terms on Wednesday that it faces devastation if it does not end its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

THEHILL.COM

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