"It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own."
- Marcus Aurelius

"I begin to speak only when I'm certain what I'll say isn't better left unsaid." 
- Cato

"What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him."
 - Viktor Frankl

A signal?  I recall Kim Jong-il always assumed that US carrier battle groups were a signal of the US nuclear deterrent. When I saw the title (good clickbait) I thought we were deploying to carriers to the Korean Theater of Operations. Maybe or maybe not. I wonder who are the "military insiders?"

Washington merely said that the Roosevelt is headed to the "Indo-Pacific," but military insiders believe it will conduct operations near the Korean Peninsula. The carrier group includes the Aegis-class destroyer USS Pinckney, which is capable of shooting down intercontinental ballistic missiles.

U.S. Deploys 2 Aircraft Carriers Near Korean Peninsula

english.chosun.com
January 20, 2020 09:45
The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt left its home port of San Diego on Friday and headed to the West Pacific and South China Sea where the USS Ronald Reagan is already deployed.
The Roosevelt is affiliated with the 3rd U.S. Fleet that controls the area from the East Pacific and the U.S. west coast and was previously deployed in waters near the Korean Peninsula between late 2017 and early 2018 to pressure North Korea.
It joined the Reagan and USS Nimitz in U.S.-South Korea joint drills in the East Sea in November 2017 and sailed with the 7th Fleet, which patrols the West Pacific and East and South China Sea.
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt leaves San Diego for a deployment on Friday. /Courtesy of U.S. Navy
Washington merely said that the Roosevelt is headed to the "Indo-Pacific," but military insiders believe it will conduct operations near the Korean Peninsula. The carrier group includes the Aegis-class destroyer USS Pinckney, which is capable of shooting down intercontinental ballistic missiles.
"The move appears aimed at responding to North Korea's ICBM threat and to escalating military tension just like in 2017," a military source here said.
Kevin Schneider, the new commander of the U.S. Forces Japan, told the Yomiuri Shimbun on Sunday that changes have been spotted in North Korea's military position and rhetoric over the last few months, making it the most imminent security challenge in Northeast Asia.
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De Oppresso Liber,

David Maxwell
Senior Fellow
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Personal Email: david.maxwell161@gmail.com
Phone: 202-573-8647
Web Site:  www.fdd.org
Twitter: @davidmaxwell161
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FDD is a Washington-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.


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