By: Christopher P. Cavas
WASHINGTON — The aircraft carrier Carl Vinson is operating in the Philippine Sea and, according to the head of U.S. Pacific Command, is within about two hours' flying time to the Korean Peninsula.
Adm. Harry Harris declared to Congress this week that “the Carl Vinson carrier strike group is back on patrol in Northeast Asia,” apparently putting an end to widespread confusion in mid-April about the carrier’s whereabouts.
World reaction to news on April 17 that the Vinson was not nearing Korea but was in fact still more than 3,000 miles south showed that the symbolism of a carrier is as strong as ever. PACOM announced April 8 the ship would cut short several planned activities and return to Korean waters, but no timeline was given. And in the absence of further, detailed official information, media and pundits in many cases assumed the Vinson and its strike group were already heading north.
The confusion “was quite detrimental,” Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Harris in a hearing Thursday. “Not only here, but as you know, in South Korea particularly, where there was a great deal of concern. And in some quarters, they felt that they had been misled indeed.”
Reed’s comments echoed similar reactions Wednesday when Harris testified before the House Armed Services Committee on the Korean situation.
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