Defense Secretary James Mattis expanded on President Trump's stern warning to the North Koreans, issuing his own threat to the regime, warning the regime to stand down in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Mattis said North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un should "take heed of the United Nations Security Council's unified vote", referring to a unanimous Security Council vote on Saturday that imposed a new round of sanctions on the regime to help curb North Korea's efforts in developing a nuclear weapon.
"The DPRK must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons," Mattis continued. "The DPRK should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people."
Mattis wrote that Mr. Trump was informed of the "growing threat" back in December and upon taking office, his first orders to the defense secretary "emphasized the readiness of our ballistic missile defense and nuclear deterrent forces."
And although the State Department is trying to pursue a diplomatic solution in preventing the North from attacking the West, "it must be noted that the combined allied militaries now possess the most precise, rehearsed and robust defensive and offensive capabilities on Earth," Mattis said.
"The DPRK regime's actions will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates," Mattis added.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson adopted a different tone in his comments earlier Wednesday, urging Americans to have "no concerns" and assuring them that they can "sleep well at night."
President Trump on Tuesday also warned Kim about continuing to threaten the U.S.
"They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," he said of North Korea. "He has been very threatening -- beyond a normal statement," Mr. Trump added. "As I said, they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before."
In an interview with "CBS This Morning" on Thursday, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, supported the aggressive U.S. posture.
"President Trump has basically drawn a red line saying he'll never allow North Korea to have an ICBM missile that can hit America with a nuclear weapon on top, he's not going to let that happen, he's not going to contain the threat, he's going to stop the threat," said Graham.
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters at the U.N. on Wednesday that the tone right now is too "bellicose" and that a military response is not a solution.
In a battling speech to some 3,000 supporters who gathered in Tel Aviv on Wednesday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the left and the media of using ever-widening corruption investigations against him and his family to try to oust him from power in what he called “a coup against the government.”
“They don’t want to just take me down, they want to take us all down,” he told the Likud party crowd. “They know that they can’t beat us at the ballot boxes, so they are trying to circumvent democracy and topple us in other ways.”
“But we keep winning in the ballots because we’ve brought Israel to the best place it has ever been in Israel’s history,” he said.
Netanyahu used the speech, carefully timed so that it was carried live on primetime TV news, to argue that preserving him and the “national camp” in power was crucial to Israel’s well-being. He said that when Likud PM Yitzhak Shamir was ousted in 1992, what followed were the “disastrous” Oslo accords and a wave of terrorism, and that when he himself lost power in 1999, the second intifada followed. In both cases, he claimed, the media had ousted a right-wing leadership by using false accusations.
He also asserted that the ostensibly illicit effort to oust him was designed to achieve an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, but vowed that this would not happen. He and his supporters would “proudly carry the flag of Israel… for many more years,” he promised, and vowed that the Likud would grow from 30 to 40 seats in the next elections “with God’s help.”
“We know that the left and the media — and we know that it’s the same thing — is on an unprecedented witch hunt against me and my family with the goal of achieving a coup against the government,” he said.
“The thought police in the media work full-time to set the agenda, and woe to anyone who veers away from it,” Netanyahu said, as the crowd chanted “down with the media.”
“Their goal is to put unremitting pressure on law enforcement agencies to file an indictment without any connection to the truth, regardless of justice,” Netanyahu warned.
Netanyahu clearly reveled in the adulation he got from the crowd, telling them: “Thank you for your support for me and my beloved wife Sara who has been with me all along. I love you all.”
Netanyahu’s focus on the alleged illicit bid to oust him was expected, as it had been the main theme highlighted by the event’s organizers and among the participants before he arrived to speak. He stayed away from criticizing the police and justice system.
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