Earlier this month, the Pentagon offered scant details to a group of concerned lawmakers regarding its assessment of casualties that could result from a military conflict with North Korea. However, last week, the Pentagon’s assessment was repudiated by one of its own, when retired Lt. General Jan-Marc Jouas penned a letter with a different take to the same group of lawmakers. In detailing his views on the potential outcomes of a conflict on the Korean peninsula, Jouas – the former deputy commander of U.S. Forces Korea — painted a decidedly troubling picture for Representatives Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL). While some government officials had previously warned that the death toll in South Korea’s capital, Seoul, could reach the tens of thousands within minutes, Jouas – in addition to noting this near-certitude – also stated that the U.S. military would be woefully unprepared to take on North Korean forces within their