Posted on 06/28/2013 8:10:51 PM PDT by Red Steel
The US and Japan are preparing for a possible Chinese invasion of the Senkaku Islands. Using a small island off the coast of California, US and Japanese forces are mimicking an armed invasion and an amphibious assault to prepare for a real-life scenario.
The unprecedented drills, code-named Dawn Blitz, are being conducted on San Clemente Island, which is 75 miles northwest of San Diego, the Christian Science Monitor reports. They began with an assault led by 80 US Marines and three MV-22 Osprey aircraft, and were followed by a Japanese counterattack using 1,000 troops and two warships. Although Japanese officials claim they are not preparing to target a third country, the exercises have made Chinese officials uncomfortable.
China and Japan have long disputed the Senkaku Islands, which are located in the East China Sea but which the Japanese government purchased from private owners in 2012. The islands are uninhabited, but believed to hold rich oil and gas deposits. The purchase triggered violent protests that tens of thousands of Chinese took part in, and harmed Sino-Japanese relations.
In the months after the purchase, the Chinese navy practiced military exercises near the islands, and joint US-Japanese naval drills subsequently occurred in the waters of the island chain. The latest drills off the California coast are only adding to tensions regarding the Senkaku Islands. Chinese officials reportedly objected to the drills, but their concerns were ignored by Washington, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
"We're aware of China's objections, but from a Japanese and US perspective, the object of the exercise is to build a powerful deterrent and demonstrate that the two forces are seamlessly connected – to show the Chinese that they are battle-ready," an official source familiar with Dawn Blitz told the Monitor on condition of anonymity. "There is nothing unusual in that."
The exercises began just two days after President Obama met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a California summit on June 8. But even though some believe the US is in a tricky position, the official does not believe the US is in the wrong, since the US-Japan security treaty requires the country to help Japan deter any attacks on its territory.
"I don't think Dawn Blitz puts the US in a tricky position," the official said. "They started the drill just after the Obama-Xi summit to avoid any diplomatic repercussions. But the fact that Japan and the US went ahead with the exercise also sends a message – that they are on the same page when it comes to deterring possible Chinese aggression."
Lt. Gen. Koichi Isobe, Japan’s vice chief of staff, told reporters that Japan’s self-defense forces (SDF) need to develop the capabilities to ward off any attacks that might occur on the remote islands.
"The defense of remote islands is a pressing issue, but the SDF [Japan's self-defense forces] has just begun training to develop such capabilities, which are required of US Marines," Japan's vice chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Koichi Isobe, told reporters. "Japan needs to determine its defense strategy and procure necessary equipment and train SDF members for this purpose."
The US has publicly refused to take sides regarding the Senkaku Islands, but its training exercises with Japan may inadvertently cause a shift in its neutrality.
The Senkaku Islands are more important than our childrens’ lives. Obviously. Ask McCain. You aren’t an isoloationist are you???
/sarc
Ummm....I also say “look at a map.” It’s off San Clemente, and much closer to San Diego than Santa Barbara.
San Clemente doesn’t have a Wal-Mart. And all the buildings are blue and kinda fuzzy,
Maybe the Chinese will invade and bring capitalism to California.
The list I listed are the Santa Barbara Channel Islands, sorry that’s just what it is.
Good one
As an aside, the runway there is at the edge of a big cliff giving it some wicked winds. At night when they are doing practice landings for the Navy they shut down all the lights on the base except the red hazard lights on the hillside and the carrier box on the runway. It totally sucks, but it's the best training you can get.
Or 99.9323 and 60.8283 nautical miles.
Do pilots use nautical miles over water. And statue miles over land?
I’ve never heard that. What is your source?
Thanks for the chuckle.
Good One!
This launch was delayed and went off last night.
PEGASUS LAUNCH VISIBILITY
by Brian Webb
Given clear skies and bit of luck, observers over a wide area may be
able to see some portion of Wednesday’s offshore NASA satellite
launch. Launch is targeted for 7:27:34 p.m. PDT during a launch window
that extends from 7:27 to 7:32 p.m.
A converted airliner will carry a Pegasus XL rocket containing the
IRIS satellite from the Orbital Sciences Corp. facility at Vandenberg
Air Force Base to the launch point high above the Pacific about 70
miles southwest of Monterey. When the L-1011 reaches a
three-dimensional point in space at 36.000° north, 123.000° west, and
39,000 feet, it will release the rocket. After a five-second fall,
the Pegasus first stage will ignite and IRIS will begin a 13-minute
climb into orbit.
Nautical miles all the way for flying, but I pulled the distances off google earth and it was in statue miles.
I went out with her in high school. Not the most beautiful girl, but made awesome Sauerbraten.
bttt
One of these clowns tries to invade my space i will rip their frigging throat out.
At this point i have nothing to lose.
Bring it on
Did you read what I wrote?
The list I gave is called “Santa Barbara Channel Islands”.
Yeah right. Wolverines and Marines.
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