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| I am going to send our warships to North Korea as soon as somebody tells me where they are. |
As worries deepened last week about whether North Korea would conduct a missile test, the White House declared that ordering an American aircraft carrier into the Sea of Japan would send a powerful deterrent signal and give President Trump more options in responding to the North’s provocative behavior.
The problem was, the carrier, the Carl Vinson, and the four other warships in its strike force were at that very moment sailing in the opposite direction, to take part in joint exercises with the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean, 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula.
White House officials said on Tuesday they were relying on guidance from the Defense Department. Officials there described a glitch-ridden sequence of events, from a premature announcement of the deployment by the military’s Pacific Command to an erroneous explanation by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis — all of which perpetuated the false narrative that an American armada was racing toward the waters off North Korea.
By the time the White House was asked about the Carl Vinson on April 11, its imminent arrival had been emblazoned on front pages across East Asia, fanning fears that Mr. Trump was considering a pre-emptive military strike on North Korea. It was portrayed as further evidence of the president’s muscular style two days after he ordered a missile strike on Syria while he and President Xi Jinping of China were finishing dessert during a meeting in Florida.
OMGD!
So let me get this straight. The Trump White House announced the deployment of an aircraft carrier, to the local media and to the world, without first checking to see if one was even available?
Apparently the only reason we even found this out is because the Navy posted this picture and details of its actual deployment on their official site.
But no worries. We are now being told that the carrier has changed course and is now headed toward North Korea.
No, seriously! They mean it this time!
Have we EVER seen this level of incompetence?
Source http://ift.tt/2oJAnap
