Battle-hardened Defense Secretary Mattis says NOTHING stops him from enjoying a good night’s sleep as he warns war with North Korea would be ‘catastrophic’
- Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was asked Sunday what keeps him awake at night
- ‘Nothing,’ he told CBS. ‘I keep others awake at night’
- Mattis is a retired former general who served in the US Marine Corps
- He said that war with North Korea would be ‘catastrophic’
Watch out for the ‘Mad Dog’ when the sun goes down.
That was the message on Sunday from James Mattis, the US defense secretary.
The battle-hardened, tough-talking retired Marine Corps general was asked during CBS’s Face the Nation what keeps him awake at night.
But Mattis, who was entrusted with some of the most challenging commands in the military, simply replied: ‘Nothing.’
‘I keep other people awake at night.’
When Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (seen walking past saluting cadets at commencement ceremonies at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, on Saturday) was asked what keeps him awake at night, he said: ‘Nothing. I keep other people awake at night’
When asked about the situation on the Korean peninsula, Mattis said war with North Korea would be ‘catastrophic’ – if tensions between the US and Kim Jong Un ever reached that point.
‘A conflict in North Korea, John, would be probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes,’ he told host John Dickerson.
‘Why do I say this? The North Korean regime has hundreds of artillery cannons and rocket launchers within range of one of the most densely-populated cities on Earth, which is the capital of South Korea.
‘We are working with the international community to deal with this issue, this regime is a threat to the region, to Japan, to South Korea, and in the event of war they would bring danger to China and to Russia as well.
When asked about the situation on the Korean peninsula, Mattis told CBS on Sunday that war with North Korea would be ‘catastrophic’ – if tensions between the US and Kim Jong Un ever reached that point
‘But the bottom line is it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into combat, if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means.’
Dickerson then asked Mattis, who was giving his first official interview as Defense Secretary, if North Korea’s military abilities had improved with recent tests.
‘We always assume that with a testing program they get better with each test,’ he said.
North Korea on Sunday has fired a ballistic missile from its east coast.
The missile was fired from the region of Wonsan in an easterly direction into the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s military said.
The launch was immediately reported to President Moon Jae-in, who called a meeting of the National Security Council, the South Korean office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday condemned North Korea’s latest missile launch and vowed action along with other nations to deter Pyongyang’s repeated provocations.
‘As we agreed at the recent G7, the issue of North Korea is a top priority for the international community,’ Abe told reporters in brief televised remarks.
‘Working with the United States, we will take specific action to deter North Korea.’
North Korea on Sunday has fired a ballistic missile from its east coast. The missile was fired from the region of Wonsan in an easterly direction into the Sea of Japan, South Korea’s military said. South Koreans in Seoul watch a news broadcast reporting on the missile launch Sunday
Mattis said he believed that North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un (seen above in this April 26, 2017 file photo) posed ‘a direct threat to the United States’
Mattis then went on to explain the potential danger Kim Jong Un’s country poses to the US.
‘It is a direct threat to the United States,’he said.
‘They have been very clear in their rhetoric, we don’t have to wait until they have an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear weapon on it to say that now it has manifested completely.’