US sends 14,000 troops for war games near North Korea
THE United States has deployed 14,000 troops on aircraft carriers and destroyers off the coast of North Korea for a series of war games with Japan in drills likely to infuriate Kim Jong-un.
More than 14,000 servicemen will take part in the ten-day exercise, which will see US and Japanese troops performing war games in the waters off Okinawa.
The drills, which began on Thursday, are “designed to increase the defensive readiness and interoperability of Japanese and American forces through training in air and sea operations,” the US Navy said.
And they also include aircraft carrier the USS Ronald Reagan, and the guided-missile destroyers USS Stethem, USS Chafee and USS Mustin, among others – the first such deployment of three US carriers since 2007.
The war games come as tensions between North Korea and the US continue to escalate with President Donald Trump determined to showcase Washington’s military might.
A US Navy spokesman: “The exercise follows more than a week of scenario-based training ashore.”
The display of military force is meant to pressure North Korea and make it clear to Pyongyang the US can rapidly mobilise a potent military force.
The latest exercise comes after three US aircraft carriers held rare joint drills in the western Pacific, joined separately by Japanese navy and South Korean warships over the weekend.
On Wednesday, Mr Trump hit back at critics of his Asia tour and vowed a global campaign of “maximum pressure” on North Korea, warning Pyongyang will not subject the world to “nuclear blackmail”.
Mr Trump has repeatedly engaged in a fiery war of words with North Korea’s despot leader Kim Jong-un, leaving experts to ponder on whether a genuine war is really possible.
Speaking to MSNBC’s Richard Engel, retired four-star general Barry McCaffrey revealed he believes there is a “51 per cent” chance of a war involving North Korea breaking out before “next summer”.
Mr McCaffrey said: “We are actually dealing with a potential outcome by next summer of all-out war – with millions displaced, hundreds of thousands killed and wounded.
“There are military options, they’re all bad.
“If we went in with a massive, conventional air and sea attack, aimed at their nuclear capacity, we’d get 95 per cent of it in the first 72 hours.”
The drills come just days after North Korean Ambassador Ja Song Nam slammed US war games in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, saying that the current situation around the Korean peninsula was “the worst ever”.
Source:-Â https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/880355/World-War-3-North-Korea-news-latest-US-troops-aircraft-carrier-war-games-Japan
