Posts
As
always I would be far more worried about Trump might do and not what
Kim might do (except in retaliation.
America
and its imperial allies essentially have the DPRK surrounded and the
talk from the Pentagon is a ground invasion.
What
do they have in mind and how does that relate to very, very,
dangerous events in the Middle East?
AMTV
News
For
The First Time In 13 Years, U.S. Deploys 7 Aircraft Carriers
Simultaneously
6
November, 2017
The
US has simultaneously deployed 7 of the 11 U.S. nuclear aircraft
carriers for the first time in over a decade according to the US
Naval Institute.
The three aircraft carriers with full air wings and strike groups
positioned in the Western Pacific are the following: USS Ronald
Reagan (CVN-76); USS Nimitz (CVN-68); USS Theodore Roosevelt
(CVN-71). Another four are conducting “short training missions as
part of training operations or workups ahead of deployment”.
Two out of four are operating in Eastern Pacific - USS Carl
Vinson (CVN-70) and USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) - and
the remaining two are operating in the Atlantic, the USS Abraham
Lincoln (CVN-72) and USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78).
Top: USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74)
Center: USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72)
Bottom: USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), USS Nimitz (CVN-68), USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78)
Back
in 2016, six carriers were underway and that was considered a
“milestone event” by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John
Richardson. The last time 7 carriers were deployed dates back to
2004, according to USNI. The report quotes an unidentified Navy
official to sheds more light on the upcoming drills:
The Reagan, Nimitz and Roosevelt strike groups are all operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations. Reagan is operating in the Sea of Japan near the Korean peninsula while Nimitz is returning to its homeport at Naval Station Kitsap-Bremerton, Wash. after a deployment to the Persian Gulf to conduct air strike against ISIS targets. Roosevelt deployed from San Diego, Calif. on Oct. 7 set to replace Nimitz as part of the continued U.S. operation against ISIS.
More
basic details were provided by the report for the remaining aircraft
carriers:
- Vinson is conducting a planned sustainment exercise and flight tests with the F-35C Lighting II Joint Strike Fighter, while Stennis left Kitsap-Bremerton last week for training after coming out of a repair period. A sailor on Vinson was injured Friday after being struck with a plane being towed on the flight deck.
- Lincoln is undergoing a series of qualifications following the completion of a mid-life refueling and complex overhaul and return to the fleet in May.
- Ford is continuing years of tests and training before the ship will be fully integrated into the U.S. fleet and leave on its first deployment sometime in the early 2020s.
“Naval
aviation is supporting the requirements of combatant commanders
forward while building our capabilities for future deployments–and
qualifying new pilots–with training near our shores,” Vice Adm.
Michael Shoemaker, commander Naval Air Forces said in a Monday
statement provided to USNI News.
“The addition of USS Gerald Ford is exciting, as we test the capabilities for the future. This optempo is not ordinary, but the demand for carriers remains as high as ever.”
Confirmed: @USNavy to stage exercise in western Pacific in coming days with 3 aircraft carrier strike groups.
Also
on Monday, VoA's White House bureau chief Steve
Herman,
confirmed what had been speculated previously, namely that 3 of the
carriers will participate in an extremely rare drill in "the
estern Pacific", read off the Korean peninsula. As
the report states,
this would be the first time the “7th
Fleet converged for the “first simultaneous three-strike group
training operations in a decade”.
Last
week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford tried to
diffuse the situation, saying
that “these
three carriers are not there specifically targeting North Korea. This
is a routine demonstration of our commitment to the region.” The
exercise is overlapping President Trump’s 12-day excursion across
Asia amid high-tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.
Indicatively,
as of last week, this was the latest positioning of US Carrier Strike
Groups, courtesy of Stratfor.
The
timing of the 3-carrier drill in the Western Pacific coincides with
President Trump’s trip to South Korea. As Trump’s latest tweet
indicates (4:28pm), he is “getting ready to leave for South Korea”.
Getting ready to leave for South Korea and meetings with President Moon, a fine gentleman. We will figure it all out!
With
7 carriers deployed today of which 3 about to launch drills in
Western Pacific, we find it odd this is all occurring around
President Trump’s trip to Asia.
On
October 28, North Korea accused the US of making “criminal moves
for igniting a war of aggression”, after Kim Jong-Un learned
three US-Navy carriers will operate in Asian waters. According to Jim
Mattis, United States Secretary of Defense, said “our goal is
not war, but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula”, something North Korea
has previously said it will never agree to.
Finally,
another drill that should be closely watched is
Israel’s “largest-ever
aerial military drill”,
which started yesterday. Sometimes these drills "accidentally"
go live.
The British tabloid press is calling for war.
North
Korea’s BIGGEST ever missile launch TODAY: Kim ready to send
message to Trump
NORTH
Korea is feared to be ready for missile test today in a final warning
to Donald Trump as he arrives on Kim’s doorstep.
R
7
November, 2017
Trump
will bet jetting into South Korea today on his tour of Asia - set for
a one-on-one chat with President Moon Jae-in.
The
US President will be in Seoul, which is just 35 miles from the border
with North Korea and just 120 miles from the capital Pyongyang.
Spooks
now fear the rogue state will be planning a massive missile launch to
send a message to Trump as he gets the closest he has ever been to
Kim.
Missile
movements have been detected across North Korea, while US and South
Korean spy planes have been working overtime as they try to sniff out
what Kim is up to.
War
fears have reached an all-time high this year as the two powers
square-up to each other promising nuclear annihilation.
North
Korea next step will be to launch a nuclear-capable missile out into
the heart of the Pacific, experts believe.
Kim’s
rogue state has been talking up the possibility of the dreaded Juche
Bird, a live nuclear explosion over the ocean - the first of it’s
kind for 30 years.
An
unannounced test of this kind would be the ultimate provocation and
is likely to spark World War 3.
Launching
an unarmed ICBM out into the Pacific is believed to be the rogue
state’s next step - a proof-of-concept for the Juche Bird.
This
would North Korea’s largest scale missile test to date and a
unprecedented show of force to the US.
Previously
experts told Daily Star Online that a “battle-ready” launch will
be the next step for North Korea.
Harry
Kazianis, director of defence studies at the Centre for the National
Interest in the US, said: “they are going to go over Japan and drop
it into the mid-Pacific.
They
need to test those missiles in battlefield conditions.” “They
need to do that, because shooting missiles up in the air isn’t how
you would do it in a war.”
Eerie
silence has fallen over the Korean Peninsula as Kim has not launched
a missile since September 15.
Reports
also emerged of a massive collapse at his nuclear test-site
Punggye-ri killing 200 workers.
The
disaster occurred just days after North Korea detonated its most
powerful nuclear bomb ever on September 3 - five times more powerful
than the weapon dropped on Hiroshima.
Fears
loom the incident could force Kim’s hand into more overground
testing as the mountain test-range is said to be on its last legs
risking total collapse.
Nuclear
war fears have reached new heights this year North Korea refuses to
give up its nuclear programme despite pressure from the UN. Kim
believes obtaining nuclear weapons will secure his rule in Pyongyang
and allow him to blackmail his neighbours and the US.
Trump
has spent the last few days in Japan and will today arrive in South
Korea for a meeting with President Moon and meetings with the US
Army.
Reports
also emerged of a massive collapse at his nuclear test-site
Punggye-ri killing 200 workers.
The
disaster occurred just days after North Korea detonated its most
powerful nuclear bomb ever on September 3 - five times more powerful
than the weapon dropped on Hiroshima.
Fears
loom the incident could force Kim’s hand into more overground
testing as the mountain test-range is said to be on its last legs
risking total collapse.
Nuclear
war fears have reached new heights this year North Korea refuses to
give up its nuclear programme despite pressure from the UN. Kim
believes obtaining nuclear weapons will secure his rule in Pyongyang
and allow him to blackmail his neighbours and the US.
Trump
has spent the last few days in Japan and will today arrive in South
Korea for a meeting with President Moon and meetings with the US
Army.
Pentagon:
Ground invasion would be required to destroy North Korea nuclear
weapons
5
November, 2017
WASHINGTON
– The only way to locate and destroy with complete certainty all
components of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is through a
ground invasion. That blunt assessment from the Pentagon is in
response to a letter from two Democratic congressmen asking about
casualty assessments in a conflict with North Korea.
Rear
Adm. Michael J. Dumont of the Joint Staff offered the assessment in
response to a letter from Reps. Ted Lieu of California and Ruben
Gallego of Arizona.
Dumont
noted that the U.S. is evaluating North Korea’s ability to target
heavily populated areas of South Korea with long-range artillery,
rockets and ballistic missiles. He also pointed out that Seoul, the
South’s capital with a population of 25 million, is just 35 miles
from the demilitarized zone. The amount of casualties would differ
depending on the advance warning and the ability of U.S. and South
Korea forces to counter these attacks, he said.
Trump
arrives in Japan for start of Asia tour, says he'll likely meet with
Putin
“A
classified briefing would be the best place to discuss in detail the
capability of the U.S. and its allies to discuss capabilities to
counter North Korea’s ability to respond with a nuclear weapon and
eliminate North Korea’s nuclear weapons located in deeply buried,
underground facilities,” he said. He also mentioned the possibility
that chemical and biological weapons might be used by the North in
case of a conflict.
Military
officials would be happy to join “the intelligence community to
address these issues in a classified briefing,” he said.
In
a joint statement issued Saturday, 15 Democratic lawmakers and one
Republican— all military veterans — called the assessment that a
ground invasion would be required to destroy the North’s nuclear
arsenal “deeply disturbing” and that such an action “could
result in hundreds of thousands, or even millions of deaths in just
the first few days of fighting.”
“It
is our intent to have a full public accounting of the potential cost
of war, so the American people understand the commitment we would be
making as a nation if we were to pursue military action,” the
lawmakers said.
They
also said the Trump administration “has failed to articulate any
plans to prevent the military conflict from expanding beyond the
Korean Peninsula and to manage what happens after the conflict is
over.”
“With
that in mind, the thought of sending troops into harm’s way and
expending resources on another potentially unwinnable war is
chilling. The President needs to stop making provocative statements
that hinder diplomatic options and put American troops further at
risk,” they said.
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