Was The U.S. Threat To Send A Carrier Strike Force To The Korean Peninsula A Bluff?

New York Times: Aircraft Carrier Wasn’t Sailing to Deter North Korea, as U.S. Suggested

WASHINGTON — 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.

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WNU Editor: Talk about a failure to communicate a proper message and to coordinate operations. To pout it bluntly .... this looks

bad. As for when will this aircraft carrier strike group be off the Korean peninsula coast .... it looks like it will be at the end of April .... USS Carl Vinson carrier group expected off Korea at end of April (CNN)

More News On The U.S. Aircraft Carrier Strike Group Carl Vinson

Nothing to see here: US carrier still thousands of miles from Korea -- Defense News
The White House’s misleading statements about Trump’s ‘armada’ heading to North Korea -- Washington Post
Despite talk of a military strike, Trump’s ‘armada’ actually sailed away from Korea -- Washington Post
Carrier strike group wasn't headed to Korean Peninsula, despite Trump's saber-rattling -- L.A. Times
Aircraft carrier wasn’t moving toward North Korea when WH said it was -- The Hill
That 'Armada' Heading To North Korea? Actually, It Sailed South -- NPR
Trump’s ‘armada’ heading to North Korea was really off Australian coast -- Politico
US Navy photo reveals aircraft carrier nowhere near North Korea -- Business Insider
How Did the Trump Administration Lose an Aircraft Carrier? -- David Graham, The Atlantic

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