Retired U.S. Army Major Gen. Paul Vallely — a deputy commander of the Pacific Command, says the United States will likely make a pre-emptive strike if it sees North Korea is on the verge of attack.
“I think, in fact, we would pre-empt it,’’ Vallely told Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show.’’
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“If they know it’s a hot launch with the missile and the targeting would be South Korea or ships in the Sea of Japan or the Pacific Ocean … So they would look at what kind of a launch it is.
“The satellite spots everything that’s going on over there. So they could pretty much know it’s going to be a hot launch.’’
His prediction following reports that two medium-range missiles have been loaded onto mobile launchers in North Korea and are ready for firing.
They appear to be Musudan missile, which has a 2,500-mile range, meaning it could threaten South Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, CNN reports.
Vallely — the senior military analyst for Fox News — believes that North Korea’s Supreme Commander Kim Jong Un is on a mission to push the envelope as far as possible.
"This has been a planned ramp up by North Korea. We have a young man and his generals there that are trying to exercise how far they can go with Obama,’’ he said.
“And from what we’ve seen in the Middle East, they could go pretty far. There doesn’t seem to be any designated red line that Obama and the administration adhere to, so they’re testing us to see how we may be.’’
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