After the closed-door briefing with the entire senate in the White House, President Donald Trump and his staff are now softening its stance and rhetoric against North Korea. The briefing was attended by the Secretary of state Rex Tillerson, Defense secretary James Mattis, top military generals and the national intelligence director, Dan Coats.
However, though the meeting was unprecedented, many senators are unimpressed by the special briefing opening questions as to the capability of Trump's administration to handle the North Korean crisis effectively.
US military urges senate to basically imagine North Korea has nukes
Admiral Harris of the US Pacific command said to the senate that they should look at North Korea as if Kim Jong-Un will do what he says. He also said that his men are ready to go to fight if called on to war.
At the moment, the Uss Carl Vinson and its destroyer escorts are within striking distance of North Korea and will remain in the area until recalled. Japanese and South Korean warship are to join the flotilla for military exercises, which China wants to stop.
The admiral also reiterated the importance of the THAAD missile system to protect basically the entire East and South East Asia including Australia from any missile attack coming from Pyongyang.
It can be remembered that Kim Jong-Un threatened Australia with nuclear attacks earlier this week. Admiral Harris also took the blame for the miscommunication as to the exact location and heading of the USS Carl Vinson, which caused Trump to lose face in the international community.
Senators are generally unimpressed by the unprecedented briefing
Sen. Jeff Merkley, Democrat from Oregon said that the briefing didn't provide any new information that one couldn't read in the newspapers. Other senators also share the same sentiment over the way Trump's administration is handling the crisis in Korea.
The briefing was unprecedented as all 100 senators were ferried to the White House by bus.
However to the dismay of many of the attendees, the briefing was lackluster and doesn't offer new information nor strategy on Trump's dealings with Pyongyang.
However, a change of tone happened after the briefing as Trump officials are now saying that the way to handle North Korea is to apply diplomatic and economic pressure. Trump relies on China to be a major part of pressuring North Korea, but as of the moment, Beijing is still providing support to the rogue state.
It is unsure how things will play out in the following weeks, but as long as the build up of US presence in the Korean peninsula continues, the threat of all out war looms grimly over the horizon.
