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[webfact]

White House defends portrayal of 'armada' push towards Korean peninsula

By Jeff Mason and Doina Chiacu

REUTERS

 

When asked to clarify President Trump's statements last week about sending an "armada" as a warning to North Korea even though the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group was heading in the opposite direction, White House Spokesman Sean Spicer said, "the President said that we have an armada going towards the peninsula, that is a fact, it happened, it is happening rather. " 

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday denied being misleading about a U.S. carrier strike group's push toward the Korean peninsula, saying it never gave an arrival date and that the ships were still on their way.

 

When Trump boasted early last week that he had sent an "armada" as a warning to North Korea, the USS Carl Vinson strike group was still far from the Korean peninsula, and headed in the opposite direction.

 

The U.S. military's Pacific Command explained on Tuesday that the strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-initially planned period of training with Australia but was now heading toward the Western Pacific.

 

"The president said that we have an armada going towards the peninsula. That's a fact. It happened. It is happening, rather," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer.

 

He referred further queries about the deployment timetable to the Pentagon.

 

The U.S. military initially said in a statement dated April 10 that Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of Pacific Command, directed the Vinson strike group "to sail north and report on station in the Western Pacific."

 

But the strike group first headed elsewhere, On April 15, the U.S. Navy even published a photo showing the Vinson transiting the Sunda Strait on its way to drills with Australia. http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=235255

 

Reuters and other news outlets reported on April 11 that the movement would take more than a week. But the Navy, for security reasons, says it does not report future operational locations of its ships.

 

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis looked to address confusion over the issue on Wednesday, telling reporters travelling with him in the Middle East that the alteration in the Vinson's schedule had been disclosed in the interest of transparency.

 

"We are doing exactly what we said we were going to do. She will be on her way," he said.

 

The strike group's commander, Rear Admiral Jim Kirby, said in a Facebook post this week that the deployment had even been extended 30 days "to provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula."

 

A Trump administration official told Reuters on Tuesday that Washington was concerned about the possibility of some kind of North Korean provocation around the time of the South Korean election on May 9.

 

"There is precedent going back to the 1990s and early 2000s where there are provocations timed to South Korean political events," he said.

 

(Additional reporting by Idrees Ali in Riyadh, and David Brunnstrom and Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-20

[thaibeachlovers]

Nothing to defend. They are bad dudes up there, and it's about time the only remaining superpower did something about it, before it's too late.

[Rob13]

Can't defend 'stupid'.

[pegman]

18 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Nothing to defend. They are bad dudes up there, and it's about time the only remaining superpower did something about it, before it's too late.

Then why were the ships going down there? F Troop had their s#^#~t together better. We are so lucky having the draft dodger to protect us, 555!

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, pegman said:

Then why were the ships going down there? F Troop had their s#^#~t together better. We are so lucky having the draft dodger to protect us, 555!

Oh dear. I was commenting on the headline, not the situation on the ground.

Comments about "draft dodging" are OTT given the last one probably never knew what a soldier was till he become the CIC. He didn't dodge the draft by running away like many did, he did it legally like thousands of others.

[boomerangutang]

                   Even with their 'clarifications' over several days, Trumpsters still can't get it right.  They've been telling lies so much that they themselves don't know what's up or down.  

 

                   I never thought I'd feel sorry for the US military in combat situations. When the US next gets itself in a combat situation, it's going to have a dufus/lying incompetent in charge.  Not only will the military be hamstrung, any allies the US has cobbled together for a coalition, will be disadvantaged.  They won't know what to believe from US commanders.

 

                      Imagine you played on an American football team.  The bench gives instructions to the quarterback, but both the coach (Trump) and the quarterback (field commander) give instructions to the team players (grunts on the ground), but the directions are faulty most of the time.  A pass play becomes a run, a run becomes a pass attempt, on and on.  Does your team even know which goalposts to drive towards?

 

                      N.Koreans must be gaining confidence with a dufus like Trump in charge of the bumbling USA.  While Russia is fading in its love for the US, China is liking the US better.   China has designs on the S.China Sea and wants to increase its influence ww.   Trump is great for that.   The weaker the US, the better for Russia, China, N.Korea, Iran, and other adversaries.

 

                I'm still not convinced that Assad gave an order to poison that Syrian town.  Shooting off 59 Tomahawk missiles (that did little damage) may have simply been yet another way to divert attention from investigations in Wash DC.   Trump says they didn't even target the airstrip.  If you fire $90 million dollar's worth of high tech missiles into a small air field and can't even damage the runway, then something's not right.  A guy running out from the sand dunes with a $35 hand grenade could have done more damage to the runway. 

 

              Trump is to truth what a cockroach is to dancing a minuet.

 

  

Edited April 20, 2017 by boomerangutang

[baboon]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Nothing to defend. They are bad dudes up there, and it's about time the only remaining superpower did something about it, before it's too late.

Just like they did with India and Pakistan, a far more unstable country. 

[Emster23]

  Trump said during campaign he wouldn't tell our enemies what he was going to do, roasted past leaders who have done that, keep that element of surprise. Yet he called Russia (who we assume called Syria) at least an hour before cruise missile attack. Now he tells the world his armada is going North. Included mentioning submarines (brilliant move... NOT). 

 I suppose he did keep part of it a surprise. He forgot to tell our forces that they were going somewhere else.

 Re draft dodging medical deferment  & "he did it legally".... maybe legal, but not genuine medical problem, as he couldn't recall which foot had that terrible bone spur that kept him out. Continued to play sports, btw. I had friends who got out of the draft "legally" through a doctors note, was not difficult to find a sympathetic one. If a millionaire I suppose it would be even easier.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, baboon said:

Just like they did with India and Pakistan, a far more unstable country. 

Perhaps you missed it but Pakistan and India are US allies. They haven't "done" anything with either. I'm not saying they are great allies, just that they are allies.

[humqdpf]

I know that Armada is Spanish for naval fleet (coming from the word for armed). So, given there is nothing Spanish about North Korea, I am assuming that Trump is only using this Spanish term because of its historical context, namely the famous Spanish Armada of 1588.

 

Someone should tell The Donald that this Armada was destroyed by the much smaller and less-well-armed British navy.

[baboon]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Perhaps you missed it but Pakistan and India are US allies. They haven't "done" anything with either. I'm not saying they are great allies, just that they are allies.

You can say that again. The Pakistanis like America about as much as the North Koreans do, let's be honest about this...

[thaibeachlovers]

12 minutes ago, humqdpf said:

I know that Armada is Spanish for naval fleet (coming from the word for armed). So, given there is nothing Spanish about North Korea, I am assuming that Trump is only using this Spanish term because of its historical context, namely the famous Spanish Armada of 1588.

 

Someone should tell The Donald that this Armada was destroyed by the much smaller and less-well-armed British navy.

this Armada was destroyed by the much smaller and less-well-armed British navy.

Methinks someone's history needs updating. The navy had little to do with the Armada's failure. Fireships and the weather did most of it.

 

From Wikipedia

armada

ɑːˈmɑːdə/

noun

 

1. a fleet of warships.

   synonyms:

   fleet, flotilla, squadron, navy, naval force, (naval) task force "an armada of forty-five warships"

[DM07]

Oh...come on!

It's just alternative facts!

[elgordo38]

6 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Nothing to defend. They are bad dudes up there, and it's about time the only remaining superpower did something about it, before it's too late.

Send your suggestions

To. Donald Trump President

C/o The Week End White House 

Mar-de-Lago

Florida

[Redline]

The guy is totally lost.  He think he can't frighten people with words and very limited 1 time missile strikes and bombings?  If your not all in (which I hope diplomacy works first),  then keep your mouth shut and work behind the scenes.  Obama made the same mistakes, as many Presidents have.

[boomerangutang]

He can beat up and rape his first wife, while pulling her hair out, but let's see if the big man can do that with N.Korea's Kim.   Hint:  Kim won't be groveling on the ground crying, when Trump pulls his MOAB out.

[anon4546543]

11 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

this Armada was destroyed by the much smaller and less-well-armed British navy.

Methinks someone's history needs updating. The navy had little to do with the Armada's failure. Fireships and the weather did most of it.

 

From Wikipedia

armada

ɑːˈmɑːdə/

noun

 

1. a fleet of warships.

   synonyms:

   fleet, flotilla, squadron, navy, naval force, (naval) task force "an armada of forty-five warships"

And the fire ships were not part of the British navy? 

[Srikcir]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

The strike group's commander, Rear Admiral Jim Kirby, said in a Facebook post this week that the deployment had even been extended 30 days "to provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula."

That's because after the fleet presence in Australia it was scheduled for the Indian Ocean and not for North Korea. I can imagine Kirby hearing Trump's public announcement that the fleet was heading to North Korea and thought "Holy Krap!" Great way for the POTUS to communicate with the military. The redirection of the fleet adds 4 weeks to its sailing; hence the 30-day extension.

Meanwhile both Japan and South Korea took Trump's statement literally that the fleet was already approaching South Korea in response to North Korea's announced missile launch. Spencer can blame confusion on the fleet status on the American news media but Trump owes Japan and South Korea an apology.