Mattis: We'll shoot down N. Korean missiles fired at Guam
Defense Secretary James Mattis said Monday that if North Korea launches a missile in the direction of Guam, U.S. armed forces 'will take it out.'
And he warned that 'if they fire at the United States, it could escalate into war very quickly.'
The Pentagon chief told reporters during a half-hour medis availability that the Defense Department can determine where an airborne missile is headed 'within moments' of a launch.
And if a missile from dictator Kim Jong-Un is seen as threatening Guam, a tiny U.S. Pacific island 2,100 miles from Pyongyang, 'then it's game on,' Mattis declared, 'and we will try and do our best to make sure it does not hit the United States.'
'We will defend the country from any attack at any time from any quarter,' he said.
Defense Secretary James Mattis, pictured last Thursday, said Monday that the U.S. armed forces will shoot down any North Korean test-fired missile that appears to endanger Guam
Dictator Kim Jong-un's go vernment has threatened to test launch four missiles in Guam's direction
The Pukguksong-1 submarine-launched missile (pictured during land tests earlier this year) could be the weapon of choice, and Mattis warned that new launches could escalate into war
North Korea's state-controlled media reported last week on preparations for test firing four missiles, saying they would be aimed in the direction of Guam but splash down before reaching it.
President Donald Trump pledged to meet new saber rattling from the communist country with 'fire and fury.'
'If North Korea does anything in terms of even thinking about [an] attack – of anybody that we love or we represent, or our allies or us, they can be very, very nervous,' Trump warned on Thursday.
'And they should be, because things will happen to them like they never thought possible.'
'North Korea better get their act together or they are going to be in trouble like few nations have ever been in trouble,' the president said.
On Friday he tweeted that 'military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded.'
The U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Carl Vinson arrives at the port of Busan, South Korea on March 15, 2017, for ongoing joint military drills with South Korea aimed at improving their response to missile launches by North Korea
'LOCKED AND LOADED': President Donald Trump tweeted Friday that 'Military solutions are now fully in place' in his latest escalation
Mattis, a retired U.S. Marine Corps general, wouldn't say on Monday whether the U.S. would respond militarily to a missile launch in Guam's deirection that appeared to intentionally miss the target.
'If it falls short of Guam, then it becomes an issue that we take up however the president chooses,' he said.
'You can’t make all the decisions in advance. There are a host of things going on,' he added. 'I need a certain amount of ambiguity on this because I am not going to tell them what I'll do in each case.'
But Mattis insisted the U.S. military stands ready to fight a belligerent North Korea if the president decides to engage.
'The bottom line is we will defend the country, and for us that's war,' he explained.
'You don't shoot at people in this world unless you bear the consequences.'
On Thursday while Trump was threatening to crush Pyongyang, Mattis struck a more patient tone, making Monday's forceful comments even more significant in contrast.
'My portfolio, my mission, my responsibility,' he told a defense industry event in California on Thursday, 'is to have military options if you need it.'
'However, right now,' he said then, 'Secretary Tillerson, Ambassador Haley – you can see the American effort is diplomatically led, it has diplomatic traction, it is gaining diplomatic results. And I want to stay right there right now.'