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Navy Strike Group Advances Towards North Korea

<p>In the wake of President Trump&rsquo&semi;s deadly strike on an airbase in Syria comes the news that a Navy strike group is moving towards North Korea&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Carl Vinson carrier strike group has received orders to cancel its planned visit to Australia and to move from its current location near Singapore into the Western Pacific&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;US Pacific Command ordered the Carl Vinson strike group north as a prudent measure to maintain readiness and presence in the Western Pacific&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Commander and PACOM spokesman David Benham&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;Third fleet ships operate forward with a purpose&colon; to safeguard US interests in the Western Pacific&period; The number one threat in the region continues to be North Korea&comma; due to its reckless&comma; irresponsible&comma; and destabilizing program of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The new orders come four days after North Korea tested a medium-range ballistic missile&period; The test failed&comma; but the weapon is estimated to have had an operational range of up to 800 miles&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Two days later&comma; President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss China&&num;8217&semi;s role&nbsp&semi;in policing North Korea&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;China has great influence over North Korea&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Trump&period; &ldquo&semi;And China will either decide to help us with North Korea&comma; or they won&rsquo&semi;t&period; And if they do that will be very good for China&comma; and if they don&rsquo&semi;t it won&rsquo&semi;t be good for anyone&period;&rdquo&semi;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Trump has long been critical of Beijing&&num;8217&semi;s inaction&nbsp&semi;regarding North Korea&comma;&nbsp&semi;and hopes to see&nbsp&semi;China act as a sort of mediator in dealings with the peninsula&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Secretary of State Rex Tillerson&comma; who travled to a handful of Asian nations last month in advance of Trump&rsquo&semi;s meeting with the Chinese President&comma; told&nbsp&semi;<em>Fox News<&sol;em>&nbsp&semi;that nuclearization of the peninsula was not off the table&period; &&num;8220&semi;Let me be very clear&colon; the policy of strategic patience has ended&comma;&rdquo&semi; he said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Pyongyang has completed over 20 ballistic missile tests over the past year&comma; and Kim Jong-un has made it no secret that North Korea is working to create a missile capable of reaching the US&period; The rogue leader is expected to test some sort of missile on April 15th &ndash&semi; a day that is celebrated in honor of North Korea&&num;8217&semi;s founding president&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8212&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Looks like Kim Jong-un hasn&rsquo&semi;t been paying attention to the news&period; As Tillerson mentioned on Sunday&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;punchingbagpost&period;com&sol;us-strikes-syria&sol;" target&equals;"blank" rel&equals;"noopener"><strong>the US strike on Syria<&sol;strong><&sol;a> shows that we are ready to take action against countries that fail to adhere to international standards&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&ldquo&semi;If you violate international agreements&comma; if you fail to live up to commitments&comma; if you become a threat to others&comma; at some point a response is likely to be undertaken&comma;&rdquo&semi; said Tillerson&period;&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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