President Donald Trump remaining silent in the wake of threats from North Korea would have been more effective than saying he would bring "fire and fury" against the Kim Jong Un regime, according to William Cohen, who was secretary of defense during President Bill Clinton's administration.
Silence from Trump would have had a more "powerful impact," Cohen said Wednesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"It's always better, if you see an enemy that remains silent, that's more frightening than someone who is beating his chest or engaging in schoolyard banter or locker room language," the former defense secretary said.
Trump should not send a message that is "bomb-bastic," Cohen said, adding, "that kind of language is not going to intimidate the North Koreans," Cohen added.
"Silence would have been very good here, and let the diplomats like Secretary (of State Rex) Tillerson, let the others who are trying to bring about a peaceful solution to this, have the authority to do so," Cohen said.
He said threats would have no effect on the regime.
"Simply issuing threats — which the North Koreans are not going to take as serious, because they know intuitively, I think, that the United States is not going to launch a preemptive attack, putting at risk hundreds of thousands, if not millions of South Koreans, and Japanese, and others," Cohen said.
North Korea's goal is to remain secure and to someday rule over the Korean peninsula, not to "invite a nuclear holocaust," the former defense secretary said.
"The North Koreans have simply accelerated their development and their goal to develop a nuclear capability, one that can threaten the United States, but they are not suicidal," Cohen said.
Back in April, Cohen also commented on North Korea in an MSNBC interview with Andrea Mitchell. He said that China's help against North Korea is key. "I think the Chinese understand that to allow North Korea to continue doing what it's doing is going to destabilize the region."
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