Arthur J. Villasanta – Fourth Estate Contributor
Washington, DC, United States (4E) – Only a full scale military invasion of North Korea by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marines supported by the other service arms of the United States Armed Forces can guarantee the destruction of the north’s nuclear arms and its nuclear weapons program.
This sobering assessment of what it will really take to stop North Korea from further developing nuclear weapons was made by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the military body that advises the U.S. President, the Secretary of Defense, the Homeland Security Council and the National Security Council on military matters.
A ground invasion will also mean the United States having to declare war on North Korea.
The JCS revealed this professional opinion in reply to a request coming from two Democratic congressmen who asked for a detailed report on the potential consequences of war against North Korea.
The assessment was made public by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who issued it through Gen. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The reply was written Rear Adm. Mike Dumont, Vice Director of the Joint Chiefs.
“The only way to ‘locate and destroy — with complete certainty — all components of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs’ is through a ground invasion,” wrote Adm. Dumont.
This is the first time the U.S. military has made public an assessment such as this. The JCS’ reply belies rumors the U.S. military can easily destroy North Korea’s nuclear arsenal by resorting to “surgical” or precision airstrikes using warplanes and missiles.
Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA), one of those that made the request to the Joint Chiefs, is goading the Trump administration into providing more details about the potential consequences of a war with North Korea.
Lieu admitted one of the problems facing the U.S. military is that it has “very little intelligence on their (North Korean) regime.” This dearth of reliable information makes it difficult to know the exact locations of all of North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
And this is the main reason why a ground invasion is the only certain way to take out the North’s nuclear weapons and its nuclear weapons development facilities.
A war against the north will instantly devastate South Korea. The U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS) recently estimated that some 300,000 South Koreans will die in the first few days of a war between North Korea and the U.S. even without the use of nuclear weapons.
Over two million North and South Koreans will die if nuclear weapons are used, while 25 million more people in both countries will be directly affected by the war.
“An escalation of a military conflict on the peninsula could affect upwards of 25 million people on either side of the border, including at least 100,000 U.S. citizens,” said the CRS report.
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