Monday, August 21, 2017
US and S. Korean troops start drills amid N. Korea standoff
U.S. and South Korean troops kicked
off their annual drills Monday that come after President Donald Trump
and North Korea exchanged warlike rhetoric in the wake of the North's
two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month.
The Ulchi Freedom Guardian drills
are largely computer-simulated war games held every summer and have
drawn furious responses from North Korea, which views them as an
invasion rehearsal. Pyongyang's state media on Sunday called this year's
drills a "reckless" move that could trigger the "uncontrollable phase
of a nuclear war."
Despite the threat, U.S. and South Korean militaries
launched this year's 11-day training on Monday morning as scheduled. The
exercise involves 17,500 American troops and 50,000 South Korean
soldiers, according to the U.S. military command in South Korea and
Seoul's Defense Ministry.No field training like live-fire exercises or tank maneuvering is involved in the Ulchi drills, in which alliance officers sit at computers to practice how they engage in battles and hone their decision-making capabilities. The allies have said the drills are defensive in nature.
South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said Monday that North Korea must not use the drills as a pretext to launch fresh provocation, saying the training is held regularly because of repeated provocations by North Korea.
North Korea typically responds to South Korea-U.S. military exercises with weapons tests and a string of belligerent rhetoric. During last year's Ulchi drills, North Korea test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile that flew about 310 miles in the longest flight by that type of weapon. Days after the drills, the North carried out its fifth and biggest nuclear test to date.
Last month North Korea test-launched two ICBMs at highly lofted angles, and outside experts say those missiles can reach some U.S. parts like Alaska, Los Angeles or Chicago if fired at normal, flattened trajectories. Analysts say it would be only a matter of time for the North to achieve its long-stated goal of acquiring a nuclear missile that can strike anywhere in the United States.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump pledged to answer North Korean aggression with "fire and fury." North Korea, for its part, threatened to launch missiles toward the American territory of Guam before its leader Kim Jong Un backed off saying he would first watch how Washington acts before going ahead with the missile launch plans.
Manhunt for Barcelona suspect intensifies, 'everything indicates' he was driving van
Authorities in Spain on Monday said “everything
indicates” that Younes Abouyaaquoub was the van driver who plowed into a
crowd of people in Barcelona last week, killing 13 and injuring 120
others.
The 22-year-old remains at large
and is believed to be the final member of the Islamic extremist cell at
large after the attacks in Barcelona and a nearby town.
Police said in a news conference that the search for
Moroccan-born Younes Abouyaaquoub, 22, has continued in Catalonia, and
has expanded to the neighboring French border, Reuters reported.Abouyaaquoub, the suspected driver of the van used in Thursday’s terrorist attack that killed 13 people and injured 120 others, is believed to be the only member of the 12-person terror cell who may have crossed the border into France.
A police official confirmed to Fox News that three vans found in relation to the Spanish attacks were rented using a credit card under Abouyaaquoub’s name.
Police have identified 12 people as part of the extremist cell which coordinated the two vehicle attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils. Other members of the cell have either been arrested, shot by police or killed in Catalonia, the site of a house explosion Wednesday night.
Secy Mattis: New Afghan Strategy Incoming, Pres. Trump to Announce
Defense Secretary James Mattis attends a news conference, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, at the State Department in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) |
The president has been carefully considering his options for months and made a decision last week during a national security meeting at Camp David in Maryland.
Mattis says the new strategy is worth the wait.
“I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous and did not go in with a pre-set condition in terms of what questions can be asked or what decisions were being made.”
Mattis has confirmed military options presented to President Trump for the region, range from a full withdrawal to a troop increase.
President Trump is expected to make the announcement Monday.
Pres. Trump to Visit Marine Corps Air Station Yuma
The White House says the president will visit Marine Corps Air Station Yuma on Tuesday afternoon ahead of his rally in Phoenix later that night.
Yuma is located along the U.S.- Mexico border and security along the perimeter has been a priority for President Trump including the construction of a border wall to curb illegal immigration from Mexico.
The last sitting U.S president to visit Yuma was George W. Bush back in 2006, a visit that concentrated on the construction of a border fence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
NEW YORK (AP) — As New York City faced one of its darkest days with the death toll from the coronavirus surging past 4,000 — more th...
-
Tit for Tat ? ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass was ripped from its base in Rochester on the an...
-
What's the role of government? To one award-winning academic, it's discrimination according to race. On February 9th, Mic...