Our national security experts — including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — rightly point out that the US prefers diplomacy over war and is never out of diplomatic alternatives. But President Donald Trump often undercuts them by tweeting out juvenile challenges to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un or dismissing the prospect that diplomacy might work.
Throughout history, we have seen how back-and-forth provocations, mistakes and miscommunications can lead to large unintended conflicts. President Trump’s rash actions create the prospect of “war by accident.”
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