posted on June 4, 2001 10:05:56 AM new
An oxymoron, yet we have a task force enroute to Taiwan to play:
"US Seventh Fleet reportedly en route to Taiwan
A United States Seventh Fleet carrier task force is reportedly headed
toward Taiwan amid reports China is about to launch large-scale military
exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
The AFP newsagency quotes Taiwan's ET-TV as saying the task force,
led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Carl Vinson, has been
dispatched to within 650 kilometers of Taiwan.
(about 300 miles)
According to Chinese media reports, Beijing will soon begin war games
opposite Taiwan to simulate an attack on Taiwan's outlying islands and a
counterattack following U.S. military intervention.
The exercises, reportedly to involve 100-thousand air, naval and ground
forces using China's most advanced weapons, would be the largest
since 1996.
During those exercises China fired missiles near Taiwan in drills that
prompted the United States to dispatch two carrier groups to the area.
Animosity between Washington and Beijing has grown following the April
1st midair collision between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese fighter over
the South China Sea".
posted on June 4, 2001 11:12:23 AM new
Gee with all the equipment and men sitting in the right positions it would be real easy to switch orders at the last minute and say go for it boys - wouldn't it?
I wonder if they appreciate how pissed the US would be if anything happened to a carrier with about a thousand sailers and all those planes and nuclear weapons?
