US lawmaker: Likelihood of ‘preemptive war’ with N. Korea grows

A top Republican lawmaker warns Sunday that the United States moves closer to preemptive war with North Korea every time Pyongyang carries out a missile or nuclear test.

North Korea’s test launch this week of an intercontinental ballistic missile has sent tensions soaring once again on the Korean peninsula, after a two month lull.

“If there’s an underground nuclear test, then you need to get ready for a very serious response by the United States,” Senator Lindsey Graham says on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

His remarks echoed those of National Security Advisor HR McMaster, who told a security forum in Washington on Saturday that the potential for war with North Korea “is increasing every day.”

Graham, a foreign policy hawk, says he has had extensive discussions with the Trump administration about the situation.

The administration’s policy, he says, is “to deny North Korea the capability to hit America with a nuclear-tipped missile. Not to contain it.”

“Denial means preemptive war as a last resort. That preemption is becoming more likely as their technology matures. Every missile test, every underground test of a nuclear weapon, means the marriage is more likely.”

“I think we’re really running out of time. The Chinese are trying, but ineffectively,” he says.

— AFP