The war drums are beating louder, and as US Ambassador to the UN Nicky Haley said moments ago as she speaks live (webcast), the North Korea launch is clear, sharp military escalation and the US will use the full range of its capabilities in North Korea including military force, "if it must." Her key soundbites from Reuters and Bloomberg:
- HALEY: PREPARED TO USE THE FULL RANGE OF ITS CAPABILITIES TO DETER NORTH KOREA, INCLUDING MILITARY FORCE "IF WE MUST"
- HALEY: U.S. WON'T HAVE PATIENCE FOR WATERED DOWN UN RESOLUTION
She also said that an escalated response needed in wake of ICBM launch, and sent a clear warning to China over supporting N. Korea whose launch shows North Korea "does not want to be part of a peaceful world":
- HALEY SAYS COUNTRIES ALLOWING TRADE WITH NORTH KOREA IN VIOLATION OF U.N. SANCTIONS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE TRADE WITH U.S.
In the speech she said that "today is a dark day - it is a dark day because yesterday's actions by North Korea made the world a more dangerous place."
Amb. Nikki Haley: "Today is a dark day - it is a dark day because yesterday's actions by North Korea made the world a more dangerous place." pic.twitter.com/TZiHcRLOBS
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 5, 2017
She also added that North Korea's "actions are quickly closing off the possibility of a diplomatic solution," and explained that previous sanctions against NK "have been insufficient to get them to change their destructive course."
There is still some hope that war may be avoided: Haley said that the U.S. will introduce a new UN resolution in coming days to increase sanctions against North Korea.
Haley's explicit warnings come after the US military warned earlier in the day it can counter any new North Korean missile threat (more on that in a subsequent post shortly).