Responding to questions on China and the South China Sea tensions, a Pentagon official cited U.S. experience in island campaigns in the Pacific, saying that the military has the technical and expert know-how to “take down” these small islands.
The Pentagon’s Joint Staff director tempered these statements, adding that this was a statement of “historical fact” and not a political message to China.
Source: U.S. Has the Ability to ‘Take Down’ China’s Man-Made Islands | Time