US Preparing Preemptive 'Bloody Nose' North Korean Strike: Report

The White House is preparing a North Korea option that would include a “bloody nose” targeted preemptive military strike to knock out its nuclear weapon program, according to a Wednesday report by the at. A strike could involve targeting a launch site before it launches a ballistic missile test or targeting North Korea weapons stockpiles.

“The hope is that military force would show Kim Jong-un that America is “serious” about stopping further nuclear development and trigger negotiations,” the Telegraph reported.

The report cited three anonymous sources, one inside the administration and two former officials familiar with the White Houses thinking.

“The Pentagon is trying to find options that would allow them to punch the North Koreans in the nose, get their attention and show that we’re serious,” one former security official told the Telegraph.

The plans indicated that President Donald Trump is more willing to use military option than previously thought.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told the Atlantic last week he believed there was a 30 percent chance of Trump using a military option, but that if North Korea tested another nuclear weapon that percentage would jump to 70.

North Korea tested a nuclear weapon in September, its sixth and most powerful nuclear bomb test. North Korea also tested three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) this year, the latest one had a theoretical range that included the entire continental U.S. Experts believed that the missile wasn’t yet capable of carrying a nuclear payload, or if North Korea had even developed a working nuclear ICBM warhead, but the country’ rapidly developing weapons capabilities have put the White House in a tough position.

A British source left a meeting with Security Adviser H.R. McMaster feeling nervous about the administration’s thinking said the Telegraph.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has reached out numerous times to North Korea pushing diplomatic negotiations, but Trump admonished him publicly on Twitter and has repeatedly threatened North Korea and insulted its leader, Kim Jong Un. There appears to be a split in the rhetoric between Tillerson and Trump.

How Kim would respond to such an attack is a mystery. Experts believe that North Korea has more than one ICBM launcher and possibly around 15 nuclear weapons. The U.S. government estimates North Korea’s nuclear weapon count is as high as 60. North Korea also has artillery along its border aimed at South Korea.