Donald Trump: United States Will Be Stopping ‘War Games’ with South Korea

brietbart ^ | 06/12/2018 | Charlie Spiering

[wbarmy]

“Anyone can make war, but only the most courageous can make peace,” Trump continued, stressing he has given up nothing at this point in negotiations. “We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should.”

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2018/06/12/president-trump-and-kim-jong-un-end-historic-summit-with-signing-ceremony-establishing-future-denuclearization-n2489792

[Poison Pill]

All still correct. Kim have given up ZERO.

[Lower Deck]

The POTUS would not have revised these exercise plans unless the ROKs were in full coordination and agreement

Here's a link to the Chosun-Ilbo English language coverage. Money quote is here: "...Trump then managed to alarm South Koreans with a throwaway promise to end "war games" with South Korea, which he called "very expensive" and "very provocative."

Surprise!

[silverleaf]

Oh sure - this whole summit was set up with no advance work by Pompeo
( sarc)
The ROKs who claim surprise are not the droids we are looking for
The PTB wont be surprised and will have been fully consulted
Ditto with Japan
Ima bet revised plans for our presence and activties in WestPac for the next 5 years started some time ago
The real threat is China and how we exercise for those scenarios
The real force is strategic and unmanned and not launched from the peninsula

Team Spirit was always jolly fun but there are other ways to remain war prepared than to send thousands of conventional forces tdy to Osan and other bases to play war games

[stig]

Always thought the war games were unnecessary AT THIS POINT IN TIME. War is a technical movement. War games are all laid out. It's like playing the board game RISK with some very expensive equipment.

Change over in personnel from promotions, people leaving, or new recruits means that every few years or so you are looking at an entirely new armed force. While it seems simple getting troops point A to point B. It's a logistical and bureaucratic nightmare. By having war games every so often you make sure the Army has people with experience to accomplish the task. You also make sure that policy and procedures are honed and any oversights in the process are fixed. You also make sure that knowledge trickles up the chain of command as people from this year's war game get promoted.

[ican'tbelieveit]

I was watching streaming TV from Singapore last night. They had a reporter at the China/NK border - a bridge. She commented that before the increase in sanctions, that there was a line at that bridge of Chinese goods going into NK. They even made it sound like there might be a “guest worker” program where NK people were crossing the bridge in order to work in China.

Anyway, after the tightening of sanctions, the traffic across the bridge became a trickle.

I think that is what finally got his attention that we meant business, this time.

But, they had a “British” intellect on talking about how Kim always does this and reneges, but he got what he wanted. And how he will never give up his nukes.

We will see.

[circlecity]

Wasn’t a major reason for the war game to intimidate NK to this very position?

[xkaydet65]

So discreetly I missed it. When were RoG used in the 2nd half of 17? Thanks.

[silverleaf]

Thats like saying CNN sources are clued to the real powers making these decisions
Other than war merchants many South Koreans esp. the young are weary of 70 years of war games and would welcome deescalation and not feel less safe by advances in diplomacy

[silverleaf]

We intimidated them all the way into becoming a nuclear power

So what happens if we and and they keep intimidating and escalating?

Trump has to try a different track

I trust him

[circlecity]

I think you misunderstood me. I was saying that Trump may have accomplished exactly what he wanted with the “war games” and that’s why he’s willing to suspend them now. I most certainly trust his judgment at this point more than any other person in government.

[silverleaf]

They weren’t Trumps war games, we ‘ve been having big regular joint war games for many years, Foal Eagle in the fall and Team Spirit in the spring were the ones I played in but that was many years past so certainly there have been changes
Team Spirit was always a big deployment of joint forces and it was always scheduled annually
Im sure there will be complaining by “ military” sources and “ military expert’ talking heads about how “ dangerous” it will be to cut back on these games
But they are games
and there are many ways to change the game which are probably a lot more realistic of an actual conflict with evolving technology

[Lower Deck]

Thats like saying CNN sources are clued to the real powers making these decisions

Chosun-Ilbo is as close to an official government news source as it gets. Think of them as the South Korean equivalent of Sean Hannity. If they said that this caught the South Korean government and military by surprise then it's clear they had no idea Trump was going to do this.

[silverleaf]

If it matches the US lamestream media meme that “ Trump just threw our allies under the bus’” ‘then I’m taking it as fake news
Pompeo laid a lot of the groundwork for this summit - he wouldnt play that game nor would Trump
Those South Koreans that are highly involved - aren’t talking or complaining they were surprised by anything that happened

[AmericanInTokyo]

That was a STUPID thing for the President to say. I don't care which president. Bush, Obongo, Trump.

Now the press in Seoul and Tokyo and elsewhere (not CNN nor FOX) is exploding in conjecture and it is sending a shock wave tonight through the defense and national security structures of S. Korea and particularly Japan tonight. No less than four or five senior Korean defense specialists have sounded alarm tonight in an article in the Chosun Ilbo, a major Korean language conservative daily (quite reputable and sourced here on FR for years) in Seoul--over this kind of loose talk--not to mention all this drivel about trusting Kim Jong Un, loves his country, will denuke, smart guy, don't worry about CVID not being in the signed statement. etc. etc. etc..

[Sacajaweau]

This is not WWII. We have computer simulation.

It's about being vigilant.

My father was a radio operator aboard several different ships during WWII.

My brother was 2nd Mate on a ship during the Gulf War. He sat for 30 days off the coast of Japan...loaded with missiles.

The war games are just that.....pre-programmed games.

[NKP_Vet]

Within ten minutes of Trump saying “war games” will be stopped you can bet your bottom dollar Bolton, Pompeo and Mathis had a talk with him. Look for the president in his next news conference to say when Kim has destroyed his nukes joint military exercises will be hopefully ended. The lib stations are already having a field day with Trump’s comments. Hell, that’s why he probably the reason he made them. CNN, MSNBC, and all the rest “He’s abandoning the people of Korea, he wants to end protecting them
and bring all the troops home”! What idiots. There’s no war going on in Western Europe and we still have a military presence in many countries, most specifically Germany. We will always have a military presence in South Korea. If the day comes North Korea is not a threat to the Pacific theater, there might be a small reduction in the US military presence in Korea, but it will be there.

[TBP]

We’ll save a tremendous amount of money, but we’ll weaken the security of ourselves and our allies. This is dangerous.

[Teacher317]

Military presence is a zero sum game.

Ummm, no it isn't. France, China, Italy, Japan, and the US all have bases in Djibouti. If one leaves, nobody is obligated to replace them. If another arrives, nobody is forced to leave. You might want to re-check the definition of that term.

And it’s much harder to reestablish than to just continue.

Who said anyone was leaving? There are still US bases in South Korea, and the only war games that were scheduled are set for next year.

If we aren’t there, China will be.

Yeah, South Korea will surely throw open their doors for Chinese military bases the day after we leave. *eye roll*
You don't know much about international relations, do ya?

At least you try to live up to your moniker, I guess.

[zeebee]

We don’t need no stinking war games now.
We have our best and brightest with their most sophisticated equipment over there “providing security”