Trump's top national security adviser just said the US is ready to take North Korea's nukes by force

AP

President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, left, at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

• President Donald Trump's national security advisor said the US is prepared to make North Korea denuclearize against its will.
• This would likely require a massive act of warfare, and flies in the face of experts who say North Korea's missiles are now so advanced that they should deter a US attack.
• But Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis doubts North Korea's ICBM, and it looks like the military isn't ready to be counted out of the North Korean crisis.

H.R. McMaster, President Donald Trump's national security advisor, just took an incredibly bold stance on North Korea that points to the worst possible outcome - all out war.

Asked by BBC on Tuesday if the US was committed to a peaceful resolution to the North Korean crisis, McMaster abandoned the usual formality of political speech.

"We're not committed to a peaceful resolution," McMaster said. "We're committed to a resolution."

"We want the resolution to be peaceful, but as the president has said, all options are on the table," said McMaster. "We have to be prepared if necessary to compel the denuclearization of North Korea without the cooperation of that regime."

Denuclearization by force equals a massive war, no way around it

KRT via AP

The North Korean military conducted a "Combined Fire Demonstration" in Wonsan in April to celebrate its 85th anniversary.

Of the seven possible courses of action on the North Korean crisis prepared for Congress by its internal think tank, denuclearization of the country by force is one of the harshest, most dangerous possible courses of action.

In separate comments to PBS News Hour on Monday, McMaster reaffirmed his belief that the chance of war with North Korea is growing every day, and added that "we have a very short amount of time to be able to address the problem."

At the same time, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis dished out another revelation from the country's top national security minds.

North Korea can not yet hit the US with a nuclear weapon, according to Mattis. Despite experts calculating that North Korea's latest ICBM could hit any part of the US with a 1000 kilogram nuclear device, Mattis said the US remains doubtful the missile works as advertised.

Essentially, the missile can probably lob a heavy nuclear warhead as far as the US, but its ability to evade missile defenses and to function properly once it gets there isn't a sure thing.

Is the US headed for war?

Associated Press

Taken together, the comments from the US's top military advisers and officials paint a picture of a US that still sees a slim window to use force against North Korea.

For decades, as North Korea's nuclear might has grown, US and South Korean leaders have been deterred by Pyongyang's massive offensive output.

But today, as North Korea perfects its missile program to the point where it can nearly hold targets in the US at risk of nuclear annihilation, the world's greatest military seems like they won't allow a set of calculations on paper to tell them their strength is no good here.