The US military is conducting "very serious" training for a possible conflict with North Korea, a top Republican lawmaker said Tuesday, though he said he hoped such preparations would never be put to use.
Congressman Mac Thornberry, who chairs the powerful House Armed Services Committee that provides civilian oversight to the Pentagon, said the administration of President Donald Trump is closely studying its options.
"The administration is very seriously looking at what would be involved with military options when it comes to North Korea," Thornberry told a group of reporters.
Training efforts "are very serious," he added.
"The military has preparations under way, and hopefully they will not be needed."
My impression has been that we are seriously preparing for war:
Rather than being shows of force to compel North Korea to back down, I think exercises that test how warplanes of different capabilities and stealth from multiple countries can operate together are more like practice for war. In this case, Japanese F-15s and a patrol plane worked with American B-1s, F-18s, F-35s, and a refueling plane. The exercise wasn't large, but it was a chance to test the ability to mesh disparate capabilities together.
If China doesn't act decisively against North Korea first.
But if we haven't already missed the glorious "imminent" standard that liberals said was required for their support to stop an evil thug regime pursuing WMD, that window won't be open much longer.
This Canadian author thinks the window is still open, and will be for the next year.
Although your answer to that question may depend on whether you are currently in range of whatever North Korea has now.
Have a super sparkly "missiles are inbound warning" day.
