Mattis: North Korea Threats ‘Not to Be Trusted’

Says North Korea 'Not Proven Honest'

Weeks of speculation about the US planning to attack North Korea have fueled a series of hostile comments from the North Korean government, which has threatened massive retaliation, and yesterday also threatened a “super-mighty preemptive strike” before the US attacked at all.

Defense Secretary James Mattis dismissed the comments today, saying North Korea was “not proven honest” in past comments, and that subsequently their threatened action was “not to be trusted.” Mattis added that he believed the threats were “provocative.”

Mattis’ comments echo those from the White House a few days ago, dismissing North Korea’s threats to retaliate against the US homeland as not credible, and saying that the US doesn’t believe North Korea has the capability to carry out such a retaliatory strike.

Though North Korea is doubtless overstating its retaliatory capacity, and clearly can’t reduce the entire US mainland to ashes, US comments dismissing them appear to ignore the very real retaliatory capability North Korea does have, raising concerns the US may be about to launch a war without understanding the potential consequences of doing so.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.