Seoul, South Korea. The Commander of the US Navy attack group has posted on Facebook that they are now on their way to Korean waters in the long anticipated confrontation with North Korea over it’s weapons program. Experts speculate the delay was so the group could pick up nuclear weapons, not normally kept on board.
The US Carrier Attack Group was supposed to be steaming towards North Korea more than a week ago, an “armada” signaling American resolve. Now, it seems the USS Carl Vinson may finally be heading north.
“Our deployment has been extended 30 days to provide a persistent presence in the waters off the Korean Peninsula,” Rear Admiral Jim Kilby, the commander of Carrier Strike Group One, said in a message posted on the Carl Vinson’s Facebook page addressed to “families and loved ones” of the poor souls on board.
The Carl Vinson, accompanied by a carrier air wing, two guided-missile destroyers and a cruiser, was supposed to have been ordered to sail north after leaving Singapore on April 8.
But a week later, the Navy published photos showing it was actually sailing the opposite direction through the Sunda Strait between the Indonesia islands of Sumatra and Java, more than 3,000 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula and more than 500 miles southeast of Singapore.
The White House is now facing questions about why it was not clear about the carrier group’s whereabouts. Several times over the the last two weeks, the Trump administration said the ships were heading north.
On April 9, Admiral Harry Harris said the carrier strike group was headed north to the Western Pacific after departing Singapore on April 8. Intelligence analysts confirm the delay is related to picking up nuclear weapons needed for “options” should the US decide to strike the North Korean republic.
Defense Secretary James Mattis then told reporters the Carl Vinson was “on her way up there.” In an interview that aired April 12, President Trump said the U.S. was sending ships. “An armada, very powerful” he said.
Obviously after picking up the nuclear weapons for the Korean deployment, the battle group is much more powerful, smarter-remains to be seen….