- HAGATNA, Guam (AP) -- Three aircraft carriers filled the skies with fighters
as one of the largest U.S. military exercises in decades got underway Tuesday
off this island in the western Pacific.
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- For the first time ever, a Chinese delegation
was sent to observe the U.S. war games. But as the show of American military
power began, North Korea -- one of the region's most unpredictable countries
-- was rattling some swords of its own.
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- The maneuvers, dubbed "Valiant Shield,"
bring three carriers together in the Pacific for the first time since the
Vietnam War. Some 30 ships, 280 aircraft and 22,000 troops will be participating
in the five-day war games, which end Friday.
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- The exercises are intended to boost the
ability of the Navy, Air Force and Marines to work together and respond
quickly to potential contingencies in this part of the world, U.S. military
officials said. Even U.S. Coast Guard vessels were joining in the maneuvers.
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- "The exercises are taking place
on land, sea, air, space and cyberspace," said Senior Master Sgt.
Charles Ramey. "They cover the whole spectrum."
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- The maneuvers mark the first major operation
in this remote U.S. territory about halfway between Hawaii and Japan since
the announcement last month that 8,000 Marines would be moved here from
Okinawa in part of the biggest realignment of the U.S. forces in Asia in
decades.
-
- Though planned months ago, they come
amid heightened concern in Asia over North Korea.
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- Officials in the United States, South
Korea and Japan say they believe North Korea is preparing to test launch
a Taepodong 2 long-range ballistic missile. The missile is believed be
able to reach parts of the western United States.
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- Pyongyang shocked Tokyo by launching
a Taepodong that flew over Japan's main island in 1998. North Korea claimed
the launch successfully placed a satellite in orbit, but that claim has
been widely disputed.
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- North Korean leader Kim Jong-il agreed
on a moratorium on long-range missile launches during a summit with Japan
in 2002. But Pyongyang said Tuesday it is no longer bound by that accord.
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- Military officials here had no comment
on the activity in North Korea, or on what specific tactics or scenarios
are being used in the exercises.
-
- They stress, however, that the exercises
have been opened to outside observation and are not intended to provoke
North Korea.
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- "These exercises are not aimed at
any one nation," Cmdr. Mike Brown said.
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- The exercises are instead intended to
provide training in "detecting, locating, tracking and engaging"
a wide range of threats in the air, land and sea.
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- Representatives from China, Japan, Australia,
South Korea, Russia and Singapore were invited to attend.
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- China's presence has been singled out
as particularly significant.
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- Though military relations between Beijing
and Washington cooled when an American spy plane was captured in 2001,
senior U.S. military officials are cautiously trying to mend the rift.
At the same time, the Pentagon has expressed strong concern over the secrecy
that shrouds China's rapidly modernizing military.
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- Adm. William J. Fallon, the top U.S.
commander in the Pacific, said before the exercises began that implicit
in the invitation was the expectation that China would reciprocate.
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- China's 10-member delegation includes
one top-ranking officer each from the People's Liberation Army, air force
and navy, the official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.
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- "The invitation to observe the U.S.
military exercises is a very important component of exchanges between the
militaries of China and the United States," Xinhua quoted an unidentified
Defense Ministry official as saying.
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- Along with the USS Kitty Hawk, Ronald
Reagan and Abraham Lincoln carrier strike groups, U.S. force fighters and
B-2 bombers operating out of Guam's Andersen Air Force Base will join the
maneuvers.
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- Brown said the exercises were to be held
again next year, and then become a biennial event.
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