[ad_1]
The United States and North Korea came close to starting an atomic war during the crisis of the summer of 2017, when the Pyongyang regime conducted several tests to launch ballistic missiles. Then the United States considered including the use of 80 nuclear weapons against North Korea. In this regard, US officials have reviewed two strategic plans: OPLAN 5027 – on actions to be taken in the event of a “regime change in North Korea”, and OPLAN 5015 – aimed at “beheading” the North Korean regime. , it shows. extensive material from the Washington Post.
August 29, 2017 fell on a Tuesday. At 9:57 GMT (5:57 Washington time), then-US Defense Secretary John Mattis was informed of the imminent launch of an ICBM by Pyongyang. Mattis urgently connected from his home to a conference call with senior US military officials. “We are ready to shoot,” he was informed. Mattis then observed the trajectory of a rocket that flew over Japan and eventually fell into the ocean.
The scene, described by American journalist Bob Woodward in his new book “Rage” on the Donald Trump administration, will be repeated several times in the summer of 2017. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis used to sleep at home. training, to be ready at any time to attend, in an emergency, the top-secret teleconferences that were organized every time a North Korean missile was launched or was about to be launched.
Mattis also had an alarm light installed in the bathroom, which warned him of a release even when he was in the shower, along with an alarm that sounded in the kitchen and bedroom.
In those days, beyond the schoolyard language used by the two leaders, Kim Jong Un was “gifting” Trump, while the President of the United States dubbed Kim “Little Rocket Man.” the world was in real danger of a nuclear confrontation between the two countries.
At one point, according to Woodward’s book, the US Air Force even simulated an attack on Pyongyang.
“The war with Pyongyang was closer than you think,” Trump told Woodward in an interview. Trump added that the North Korean leader was “absolutely determined to go to war with the United States.”
According to the American journalist, although Mattis did not believe that Trump would order a pre-emptive nuclear strike, his main source of concern was the North Korean leader. Therefore, US plans in the event of a military conflict on the Korean peninsula “have been dusted off and revised.”
“The Omaha Strategic Command Center paid close attention to OPLAN 5027, the plan of action in the event of a regime change in North Korea, through which the United States could have reacted in the event of an attack (coming from Pyongyang) , using 80 nuclear weapons, “is shown in an excerpt from the Washington Post journalist’s book.” Another plan, aimed at beheading the regime, titled OPLAN 5015, has also been updated. “
“You will cremate millions of people”
According to Woodward, Trump was concerned that the downing of a North Korean intercontinental missile (whether or not it had a nuclear charge) could have led to an all-out nuclear strike in the United States, The Drive reports.
Trump delegated to Mattis the authority to launch conventional ballistic interceptors to shoot down any missiles launched by North Korea that had been aimed at the United States, North Korea or Japan.
If Pyongyang launched a nuclear launch missile, the US plan called for the launch of 80 atomic weapons (missiles or bombs) on North Korea, to avoid a second launch.
Mattis acknowledged in an interview with Woodward that the “potential” of the nuclear weapons available to the United States was “real” and would have been used as a precautionary measure to prevent a second launch from Pyongyang. directed against the United States.
“You will cremate several million people,” James Mattis would have said then, according to Woodward. “No one has the right to kill a million people, but that is the decision I had to face,” added Mattis, who will step down as head of the Pentagon in 2018.
Tensions have eased, but Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal is growing
In September 2017, North Korea conducted its sixth (and last, so far) nuclear test, claiming that the device tested was a thermonuclear bomb. Subsequently, Pyongyang conducted several tests with ICBMs (capable of hitting the United States) Hwasong-14 and Hwasong-15.
Although tensions between the two countries have subsided, Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal remains unresolved and largely unknown.
In addition, North Korea wants to develop a fleet of nuclear submarines capable of launching intercontinental missiles. Detecting and destroying them would be much more difficult for the Americans, allowing the North Koreans to even make a “second launch.”
In which case, America’s nuclear counterattack plans call for more than 80 nuclear missiles.
