COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A new U.S. general was put in charge Thursday of the military command responsible for monitoring missile launches from North Korea and other countries the same day President Trump canceled a planned nuclear weapons summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and threatened military action.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who attended a ceremony welcoming Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy in Colorado, said the safety of both the U.S. and Canada depend on the 24/7 monitoring by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, which tracked the North’s flurry of testing intercontinental ballistic missiles last year as Trump and Kim traded threats.
“The NORAD team has the watch, and it is vital that sentinels stay always alert,” Mattis said. “The half billion people who depend on these commands, whether they are aware of them or not, are counting on this Canadian-American team.”
Around the same time, Trump was in Washington threatening that the U.S. is “more ready than we have ever been before” to take military action against North Korea over its nuclear weapons program after he nixed the historic meeting with Kim planned for next month.
“I’ve spoken with Gen. Mattis, and our Joint Chiefs of Staff, and our military, which is by far the most powerful anywhere in the world that has been greatly enhanced recently [and] is ready if necessary,” Trump said at the White House.
Trump conveyed the decision to cancel the summit to Kim in a letter and blamed the North’s recent threatening rhetoric. The administration had hoped the meeting could lead Kim to abandon his nuclear weapons, which have steadily developed through the launches and can now reach most areas inside the U.S.
“I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting,” Trump wrote to Kim.
Most experts believe the North has developed nuclear warheads and ICBMs, but it remains unclear whether those weapons can re-enter the atmosphere or reliably hit targets a continent away.
NORAD can immediately detect any missile launches by North Korea, plot their trajectory, and determine if there is a threat to the homeland. If so, U.S. Northern Command could use ground-based interceptors on the West Coast to take down the missiles.
Mattis described how O’Shaughnessy will be on the front lines of North Korean missile defense with a description of the work tracking the past launches by the outgoing NORAD commander, Gen. Lori Robinson.
“How many time did I hear your steady, clipped voice on the net, giving clear updates of missiles in flight, and ensuring our team was ready, ready for anything with only minutes for decision,” Mattis told Robinson during a speech at the change-of-command ceremony.
