Ex-defense secretary: Diplomacy is worth it if it saves one soldier’s life

Former Defense Secretary William Perry appeared to hit back at President Trump for saying Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was “wasting his time” by negotiating with North Korea.

“If diplomacy prevents just one soldier from having to die on the battlefield, it is worth the energy,” Perry, who served under former President Clinton, tweeted Sunday.

If diplomacy prevents just one soldier from having to die on the battlefield, it is worth the energy

— William J. Perry (@SecDef19) October 1, 2017

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Perry’s message came the same day as Trump’s tweets undermining his own State Department’s talks with North Korea.

The previous day, Tillerson had said that the State Department had opened multiple channels of communication with North Korean officials.

“I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” Trump tweeted Sunday, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

“…Save your energy Rex, we’ll do what has to be done!” Trump added.

“Being nice to Rocket Man hasn’t worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed. I won’t fail,” Trump tweeted later the same day.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert also seemed to issue a statement in response to Trump’s comments, tweeting Sunday that “diplomatic channels are open for [Kim Jong Un] for now. They won’t be open forever.”