Sen. Cotton on North Korea: ‘About to run out of road’

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., says unsuccessful action for decades with North Korea has left the U.S. with few options in the current crisis.

Cotton, who appears on this week’s edition of Talk Business & Politics as part of an interview with KATV’s Chris May, said that President Trump is taking the correct approach by applying more forceful rhetoric against the communist regime.

“The kind of diplomacy where we grant up-front concessions to North Korea clearly didn’t work in the Clinton and the Bush administrations. Kind of just standing idly by, hoping that something changes, didn’t work in the Obama administration. The President is right to put more force, whether it’s diplomatic, financial, economic, or potentially military, behind our diplomacy. We had a big success at the United Nations week before last when we passed 15-to-nothing through the Security Council new sanctions on North Korea,” Cotton said in the interview set to air statewide on Sunday.

The state’s junior senator, who serves on the Intelligence and Armed Services committees, said he has reservations that the new sanctions will be effective.

“I have my doubts about whether that will work, in part because I have my doubts about whether China or Russia will implement them, but we should at least try it. But it’s only going to be effective if it is backed with the credible threat of coercive American power,” he said.

In recent days, President Trump has said that North Korea would face “fire and fury like the world has never seen” in response to the communist country conducting successful tests in recent months of intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. mainland.

Trump also said on Friday morning that American military forces are prepared if the rogue state were to “act unwisely.”

“Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!” Trump tweeted.

Sen. Cotton said the situation is deteriorating and poses a real threat to America and even Arkansas.

“All Arkansans should be concerned. North Korea now, for over 20 years, has been moving towards this point rapidly. Kicking the can down the road has not worked, and we’re about to run out of road,” said Cotton.

“North Korea is getting close to the point where they could put a nuclear warhead on a missile that could reach right here to Arkansas, it could reach the entire continental United States. We should assume they’re going to do that sooner rather than later,” he added.

Tune in for his full interview on Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. on KATV; 10:00 a.m. on KAIT-NBC; and 10:30 a.m. on KFSM.