US Forces on Alert for Possible Movement Near Korea

Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | Monday, February 3, 2003 | Reuters

[Momaw Nadon]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some U.S. bombers, fighter jets and warships have been alerted for possible deployment to the western Pacific to deter any aggression by North Korea in case of a war in Iraq, U.S. defense officials said on Monday.

The officials told Reuters that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had not issued any final orders to move B-52 bombers, F-16 fighter jets or naval units closer to the tense Korean peninsula, now gripped in a nuclear crisis.

The additional forces have been requested by Adm. Thomas Fargo, based in Hawaii as head of U.S. forces in the Pacific and Asia rim.

"If such forces are moved, it would be done as a precautionary deterrent presence against any North Korean aggression in the event of a war in Iraq," said one of the officials, who asked not to be identified.

Officials stressed the possible deployment did not include any ground forces to join the 37,000 American troops stationed in South Korea.

Officials said that additional F-16 fighter jets could be moved from the United States to bases in Japan and that heavy B-52 or B-1B bombers could be moved to within emergency striking distance of North Korea -- perhaps to Guam.

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, currently in Hawaii, might also be deployed toward the troubled Korean peninsula if the carrier USS Kitty Hawk is ordered to leave the western Pacific and head for the gulf in the event President Bush (news - web sites) decides to launch an invasion of Iraq, officials said.

The defense officials spoke as North Korea said on Monday its troops were at the ready in case of any U.S. "military and political moves" against it as tensions rose over the nuclear crisis on the peninsula.

The U.N. watchdog that oversaw a freeze in the communist state's nuclear program until it was thrown out in December also said it would hold an emergency session on Feb. 12 and was likely to ask the U.N. Security Council to take up the issue.

[Momaw Nadon]

FYI and discussion

[finnman69]

What a terrible title for this article.

[Dog]

War in Iraq within a week.....two on the outside.

[Semper Paratus]

Careful with that headline.
It sounded like NK was doing the moving.

[Dog]

That sound you heard was us removing the saber from the scabbard..

[Momaw Nadon]

Reuters does need a better headline writer.

[Dog]

That is the headline over on Yahoo...

[Dog Gone]

The trick is to move forces to deter NK aggression without spooking them to the point where they attack because of it.

[cmsgop]

Im with ya on that. It was my 21st B-DAY party the ground war started in '91. Today I found out 2 Bigshot types I know got their orders. So yeah, I believe you are correct.

[tet68]

Rockets are red,
radiation is blue.
Saddam gets a valentine,
Kim Il jung too.

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

Korea is where diplomacy will work. Though tough on the current President as elections put a hard core commie in charge.

I have problems believing this threads title.

[cmsgop]

I know the South Korean force is a good one. Well Trained. Do you know their #s? Added to our guys?

[cajungirl]

You really think that soon? Won't they have to get those inspectors out,and the world will know when that happens, won't it? I have been waiting patiently for this war but don't want to get caught offguard. Going skiing Saturday for 8 days and I would hate like hell to miss it!!!

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

This deterance should have never been leaked or reported in this manner-especially.

[kms61]

Other than as a cruise missile platform, it seems like B-52's would be of limited utility NK until air supremacy was achieved. They were pretty vulnerable to SAM's thirty years ago over North Vietnam, and I would think NK's air defenses are at LEAST at that level, and probably much stronger.

[Poohbah]

Won't they have to get those inspectors out,and the world will know when that happens, won't it?

No and no.

[Indy Pendance]

U.S. May Deploy Troops in Korea Region

[Centurion2000]

Going skiing Saturday for 8 days and I would hate like hell to miss it!!!

You more than likely will miss it. Have fun skiing though .... can't imagine a better thing to be doing.

[Dog Gone]

I've seen the number, but I don't recall it. Maybe 400,000 at most.

It's certainly far less than what NK has mobilized.

[RightWhale]

a terrible title for this article

No kidding. Movement in Korea would put Iraq on the back burner immediately.