Trump’s Bluster Is Laying Bricks on the Road to War

Washington, D.C. — February 23, 2018 — In response to President Trump’s threat that “If the sanctions [on North Korea] don’t work, we’ll have to go to phase two, and phase two may be a very rough thing,” Jon Rainwater, Executive Director of Peace Action, released the following statement:

“Just as he did by demonizing North Korea in the State of the Union, Trump just laid down more bricks on the road to war. To say that war with North Korea would be ‘very rough’ is a callous euphemism. Hundreds of thousands if not millions could die, and even a ‘limited’ nuclear exchange could spark a global environmental catastrophe.

“With this blunt military threat — and let’s not be coy, that is what this is — Trump is ratcheting up tensions and making diplomatic solutions more difficult. It’s particularly harmful that he is beating the drums for war while both North and South Korea are working to build on the diplomatic opening created by the Olympic Truce.

“Instead of doubling down on threats and the so-called ‘maximum pressure’ campaign, the Trump administration needs to pivot to diplomacy now. Positive steps towards ongoing talks could include further delaying or significantly scaling back the war games expected to resume in the spring in exchange for corresponding restraint shown by North Korea.”

###

Founded in 1957, Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze), the United States’ largest peace and disarmament organization, with over 100,000 paid members and nearly 100 chapters in 36 states, works to abolish nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights and support nonmilitary solutions to international conflicts. The public may learn more and take action at www.PeaceAction.org.