Sept. 15 (UPI) — U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters on Friday that North Korea has been “strangled” by sanctions and that, while it is important to pursue diplomatic options, military options remain squarely on the table if sanctions are not effective.
Haley, briefing reporters at the White House with National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, said tough sanctions and further diplomatic methods are necessarily and being pursued. She said, however, that options for dealing with the regime of Kim Jong Un are not limited to diplomacy.
“I have no problem with kicking it to General Mattis because I think he has plenty of options,” Haley said.
McMaster said new sanctions on North Korea are just going into effect and need to be given a chance to work. He noted, however, that there is not an endless deadline for their success.
“We ought to make clear what’s different about this approach is that we’re out of time,” McMaster said. “We’ve been kicking the can down the road and now we’re out of road.”
“For those who have been commenting about the lack of a military option, well, there is a military option. It’s not what we’d prefer to do.”
Hours later, President Donald Trump said the same thing during a speech at Joint Base Andrews, saying U.S. military options are “both overwhelming and effective,” and called out North Korea’s “utter contempt for its neighbors and the international community.”
The United Nations reacted strongly after North Korea tested a weaponanalysts say has the explosive power of 250 kilotons of TNT, passing the new sanctions on Sept. 11.
North Korea on Friday fired a missile which flew over Japan, but resulted in Japanese citizens being told to take cover.
