Clapper: North Korea’s Not Begging for War; They’re Begging for Attention

RUSH EXCERPT:

CLAPPER: "Well, I think both parties, the United States and north Korea, we’re each stuck on our narratives. I think it’s going to be impossible for the North Koreans to change their narrative. I think the United States needs to be the bigger brother, the bigger partner here, and change that narrative. What that means is, look for ways to negotiate as secretary of state Rex Tillerson has advocated. I really think that’s realistic. I don’t think North Korea is begging for war, I think they’re begging for attention. We might want to ask ourselves, what is it they really want? Well, one of the demands they made clear to me when I visited was to enter into discussions about a peace treaty between the United Nations command or remnants of the Korean war of 67 years ago. I don’t find that unreasonable for them to want that, but I think there is still room for dialogue. The North Koreans are on a very predictable trajectory. They’ve been pursuing this for 20 years through Kim L. Sung, who is the grandfather. North Korea is a family-owned country. So what they’re doing, particularly with this that’s quite logical on the heels of their six and long-anticipated underground tests, larger than any previous. But they would also want to convey their operational capability with a missile. Whether or not they can marry the two, that remains to be seen, but as Barbara Starr alluded, it almost doesn’t matter because we have to assume they can."