LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS ARTICLE, 08/09/2017
San Fernando Valley Congressman Brad Sherman on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump’s threat this week that North Korea would “be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen before” if the Asian country continues to expand its nuclear program.
Trump’s comment followed reports that North Korea has mastered a crucial technology needed to strike the United States with a nuclear missile.
Sherman, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Asia Pacific Subcommittee, said Trump’s statement was “reckless” and endangers American lives.
“My district in California’s San Fernando Valley is among the closest to the rapidly developing North Korean menace, and I am fully cognizant of the threat North Korea poses to our allies, American forces in the region, and the U.S. mainland,” said Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks.
But, he added, “we do not need hot tempered remarks from our Commander in Chief.”
Trump’s words sparked a reply from Pyongyang, which in turn threatened to hit Guam with its Hwasong-12 missiles, which North Korea says can carry a heavy nuclear warhead.
But according to an Associated Press report, despite regular North Korean threats against Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific about 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) from the Korean Peninsula, it’s extremely unlikely North Korea would risk the assured annihilation of its revered leadership with a pre-emptive attack on U.S. citizens.
Still, the rhetoric on both sides has intensified worries that a miscalculation could spark conflict between two nations armed with nuclear weapons.
North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month highlighted the growing threat. Both missiles were fired at highly lofted angles and landed in the Sea of Japan. But analysts said the weapons could reach Alaska, Los Angeles or Chicago if fired at a normal, flattened trajectory.
On Thursday, Trump followed up on his Twitter account, saying, “My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before.”
Sherman recently introduced legislation calling for Trump’s impeachment and alleging the president hindered and sought to end investigations over possible Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.