Who are the WestPac war games for?
July 22nd, 2010 | China North Korea The Pacific | Posted by Phil Ewing
MC3 Charles Oki / Navy
The carrier George Washington docked in Busan, South Korea on Wednesday for “a port visit to promote goodwill and ambassadorship to the United States’ longstanding ally,” according to the Navy. Its crew members wasted no time in paying their respects at the wreckage of the South’s patrol ship Cheonan.
Oh, and just for grins, the carrier, its air wing and its escorts will train with South Korean naval and air units in an exercise called “Invincible Spirit,” in case any regional powers are curious about the oceangoing might of the U.S. and its allies. Here’s the thing: Does North Korea really need a “demonstration” of what a carrier strike group can do?
There isn’t a military commander anywhere on this planet who isn’t familiar with the destruction the U.S. can deliver from the sea. But as we’ve written before, there’s almost nothing you can do about North Korea short of a full-scale attack, and despite what you might read in the kookosphere, that is not in the offing. Conclusion: the North gets a free seapower show off its coast, but will that actually change its behavior? Here’s a hint.
So who is “Invincible Spirit” actually for? South Korea and Japan, maybe, to demonstrate that the U.S. continues to stand by them. Regional American commanders, maybe, who have got to be frustrated by all the hardware at their fingertips that they cannot use, even in the face of a flagrant provocation. And what about China? Does GW’s mission show that the Navy isn’t yet convinced that sending carriers to WestPac makes them into “sitting docks?”
What do you think?
Comments
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Sea Links « New Wars Says:
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:10 am[...] Who are the WestPac war games for? [...]
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The Scoop Deck – North: Hey, quit it! U.S., allies: Nuh-uuh! Says:
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:45 am[...] stand corrected: I wrote yesterday that North Korea probably wouldn’t be bothered by the imminent U.S. and South Korean military [...]