The administration of US President Donald Trump is gearing up for war with North Korea, says American analyst Bruce Gagnon, citing the US military’s recent missile and nuclear bomb tests as the giveaway signs.
The US Air Force on Wednesday test-launched an unarmed Minuteman III missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads, a move that is expected to escalate simmering tensions with North Korea over its development of missiles and nuclear weapons.
The timing of the test was questioned by peace groups, with the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation calling it a “double standard.”
The US has warned Pyongyang of a military confrontation if it does not stop its development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
“Washington is preparing for war with North Korea because they dare to test missiles and develop nukes,” Gagnon, the secretary and coordinator at the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space, told Press TV on Wednesday.
“Testing missiles is not illegal under international law, the US and its double-standard allies do it all the time,” he argued. “But North Korea is not in the club, thus they are called rogue.”
“This hypocrisy is chilling, blinding, nerve-wracking, heart-stopping and infuriating,” he added. “The exceptional Pentagon moves the world step by step towards the World War Three.”
Referring to Trump’s secret meeting with all members of the US Senate, Gagnon said the president was “likely selling war.”
All 100 members of the Senate along with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will attend the session later on Wednesday.
The North has so far conducted five confirmed nuclear tests and numerous missile test-launches, and it is believed to be preparing for a sixth nuclear weapons test.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Pentagon began transporting parts of the controversial Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system to a planned deployment site in South Korea.