From: slider@anashram.org

Top US general says it's Trump's decision whether to strike N. Korea

The decision on whether to strike North Korea ultimately rests with
President Donald Trump, his top military adviser told reporters at a news conference today, adding that the focus is now on diplomatic and economic efforts to solve the standoff.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/top-us-general-trumps-decision-strike-korea/story?id=49203417

The United States is watching closely whether Pyongyang will fire missiles
near Guam, with North Korea’s stated "mid-August" deadline for doing so falling Tuesday on a major Korean holiday, Liberation Day, Gen. Joseph
Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC News' Martha
Raddatz.

"I don't know if they're going to do what they say they're going to do.
But we're not complacent about it,” Dunford told ABC News after the news conference in Seoul. “We're paying attention to everything that they say, everything that they do and we're preparing accordingly.”

Dunford attempted to reassure Americans, as well as Japanese and South
Koreans, that the U.S. military has the "capability to defend them against
a limited attack that North Korea is capable of delivering today."

Asked during his news conference about Trump's rhetoric and whether it has
made the situation worse, Dunford said the president is communicating to a number of different audiences, including North Korean leader Kim Jong-un
and China.

"My job is not to access whether the president's rhetoric is helpful or
not," Dunford said. "My job is to make sure that when a president makes a decision, and he makes a decision to use military force, that I provide
him with good options."

Dunford wouldn't speculate on any action the U.S. military might take
under which conditions, calling it a "political decision." But he added
that all would be done in consultation with allies in the region: South
Korea and Japan.

The United States’ top military commander is on a tour of East Asia, and
met with South Korean President Jae-in Moon today. The two didn't discuss Trump’s rhetoric or any change in joint military exercises -- the latest
of which start this week -- according to the general. But the South Korean government said Dunford did tell Moon that the United States is preparing military options in the event that diplomatic pressure fails.

But Dunford has hope that it won't, adding that there is "a sense of
urgency" now that the "international community has to address" this
standoff. One positive sign of that, he said, was the latest round of
sanctions on North Korea, orchestrated by the United States and passed at
the United Nations Security Council.

### - 'still' no overt response from nk (gone very quiet...) although did
pick up on some chatter re sat-signs yesterday of nk activity possibly preparing submarine missiles...

the world waits on nk's next move; possibly even tomorrow?

hey let's be 'nice' to mr T and perhaps he wont blow us all sky high heh...

else we're ALL gonna be sucking lemons in a minute! :)

--- SoupGate-DOS v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)