President Donald Trump's language about North Korea has made an extremely dangerous situation even worse, Sen. Ben Cardin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Tuesday.
"We have got to find a common interest," the Maryland lawmaker told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program. "China is the country that can change the equation in North Korea's calculation."
China does have a different agenda than the United States, he stressed, and "wants to make sure there's a communist North Korea," while the United States wants to be sure North Korea doesn't develop a nuclear capacity that can endanger Americans.
"Both China and the United States would like this done without a military option," Cardin told the show. "We have got to find a common agenda working with China, and maybe Russia, that can tone down this crisis."
Cardin said he believes it's important to assure North Korea that its security can be guaranteed without the use of nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, China wants to be sure that a Democratic government does not replace North Korea's leaders on its border.
"Our main interest right now is to tone down, to deal with the nuclear threat of North Korea," said Cardin. "To use a military option could be catastrophic."
If Trump wants to use force, though, he should ask Congress for authorization, Cardin continued.
"That's what I believe is the constitutional responsibility of separation of the branches," Cardin said. "Congress authorizes force. At this point, though, I would hope that he is looking at a way of dealing with North Korea without the use of a military option."
The effectiveness of a military option is not known, said Cardin, but what is clear is "there could be extreme casualties."
China and Russia likely agree that a military option puts their countries at risk as well, said the senator. "We have to find at least explore a common agenda on diplomacy."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.