An immediate pre-emptive strike against North Korea may be needed to stop its “deranged” president, Kim Jong Un, from firing nuclear weapons at the United States, Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe says.
“We should be prepared to do it right now,’’ Inhofe, a ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, told Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show.”
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“In terms of the capability we have out there with the F-22s and the battleships … a pre-emptive strike from something like that would get their attention.”
Inhofe’s remarks came after the North Korean army said it had “final approval” to launch a “merciless” military assault on the United States with its “cutting-edge” nuclear weapons.
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The frightening escalation of North Korea’s saber-rattling is the direct result of Kim’s mental instability, the Sooner State’s senior senator believes.
“[He] is just as bad as his daddy was. He’s not reliable in terms of what he might do, what he might say, but he is capable of doing it because he’s deranged,” Inhofe said.
The Pentagon announced Wednesday it is moving an advanced missile defense system to the western Pacific, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel declaring North Korea “a real and clear danger” to the United States, Japan, and South Korea.
Inhofe said North Korea’s checkered history of beating the war drum proves it’s a force to be reckoned with.
“In August of 1998 … our intelligence said it would be 10 to 15 years before [North Korea] had a multistage rocket, and seven days after, on Aug. 31, they fired one,’’ Inhofe said.
“They’ve had this capability for a long period of time. Now, when they admit that they have enough plutonium for six to eight bombs, I believe that’s true. Maybe even more than that, so it is dangerous. ... So we’re going to do what’s necessary.”
Inhofe said the North Korea situation should send an important message to the Obama administration.
“It just calls to mind, at least to me, four years ago when this president did his first budget. [There was] what I called the beginning of disarming America,” he said.
“One of the things he did was doing away with the ground-base interceptor in Poland and that was one that would actually protect the eastern part of the United States.
“So maybe this is the wake-up call to the administration to know that there … are some real threats out there.”
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