Arrrrr!
..Watch Ye The Waters…''
Foreign & Domestic.
Magnificent Makin Island ARG Operating in the South China Sea While Beijing Claims U.S. ‘Muscle Flexing’
Chinese reports accuse the U.S. of “muscle-flexing” after an American amphibious ready group quietly deployed to the South China Sea earlier this week.
USS Makin Island (LHD-8) and USS Somerset (LPD-25) entered the South China Sea on Sunday, according to Chinese state press reports, a Beijing-backed think tank that monitors U.S. military movements in the South China Sea, and publicly available satellite imagery.
The move, not announced by the U.S. Navy, was decried in the Chines press as “a bluff and muscle-flexing action that pundits believe would damage regional stability,” according to a Monday report in the state-controlled Global Times.
In response to the American ARG operating in the region, a trio of Chinese warships conducted an “unscripted” live-fire drill in the South China Sea, Chinese language state media reported on Monday, according to Newsweek.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy corvettes were operating off the southern coast of China and conducted the drills the day after the amphibious warships transited into the South China Sea past the Philipines.
U.S. Navy officials told USNI News the Chinese corvettes were hundreds of miles away from the two American ships and that the Chinese operations were likely not in reaction to the U.S. ships. An official also said the two amphibious warships had not encountered any unsafe or unprofessional behavior from Chinese ships in the South China Sea.
The ARG entered the region at the same time as Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller was on a regional tour that includes Indonesia, the Philippines and Hawaii, according to press reports.
Makin Island, Somerset and USS San Diego (LPD-22) departed the West Coast in October to complete final certification exercises ahead of a deployment with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit embarked.
While the Makin Island ARG and 15th MEU completed their certifications in mid-November and have since continued west towards the South China Sea, the Navy has yet to officially confirm that the units are deployed for national tasking.
“The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) are currently underway in U.S. 7th Fleet. U.S. forces routinely operate in the region to include the South China Sea as we have for more than a century as a commitment to regional stability and a free and open Indo-Pacific,” U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Myers Vasquez said in a statement to USNI News. “All of our operations are designed to be conducted in accordance with international law and demonstrate that the United States WILL fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows…"
https://news.usni.org/2020/12/09/makin-island-arg-operating-in-the-south-china-sea-while-beijing-claims-u-s-muscle-flexing
Arrrrr! Sept 14th 2018 Future Proves Past Proves Present.
“I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the ability of persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States to interfere in or undermine public confidence in United States elections, including through the unauthorized accessing of election and campaign infrastructure or the covert distribution of propaganda and disinformation, constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Although there has been no evidence of a foreign power altering the outcome or vote tabulation in any United States election, foreign powers have historically sought to exploit America's free and open political system. In recent years, the proliferation of digital devices and internet-based communications has created significant vulnerabilities and magnified the scope and intensity of the threat of foreign interference, as illustrated in the 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with this threat. Accordingly, I hereby order: Section 1. (a) Not later than 45 days after the conclusion of a United States election, the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the heads of any other appropriate executive departments and agencies (agencies), shall conduct an assessment of any information indicating that a foreign government, or any person acting as an agent of or on behalf of a foreign government, has acted with the intent or purpose of interfering in that election. The assessment shall identify, to the maximum extent ascertainable, the nature of any foreign interference and any methods employed to execute it, the persons involved, and the foreign government or governments that authorized, directed, sponsored, or supported it. The Director of National Intelligence shall deliver this assessment and appropriate supporting information to the President, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of Homeland Security.”
Enemies Foreign & Domestic.. Ye Scurvy Dogs, Ye Shall Dance The Hempen Jig! Or Walk Ye The plank!
§394. Authorities concerning military cyber operations
(a) In General.-The Secretary of Defense shall develop, prepare, and coordinate; make ready all armed forces for purposes of; and, when appropriately authorized to do so, conduct, military cyber activities or operations in cyberspace, including clandestine military activities or operations in cyberspace, to defend the United States and its allies, including in response to malicious cyber activity carried out against the United States or a United States person by a foreign power.'''
(b)Affirmation of Authority.- Congress affirms that the activities or operations referred to in subsection (a), when appropriately authorized, include the conduct of military activities or operations in cyberspace short of hostilities (as such term is used in the War Powers Resolution (Public Law 93–148; 50 U.S.C. 1541 et seq.)) or in areas in which hostilities are not occurring, including for the purpose of preparation of the environment, information operations, force protection, and deterrence of hostilities, or counterterrorism operations involving the Armed Forces of the United States.
(c)Clandestine Activities or Operations.- A clandestine military activity or operation in cyberspace shall be considered a traditional military activity for the purposes of section 503(e)(2) of the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3093(e(2)).
Be it Land Or Sea, Or Even Cyber Space, No Quarter Shall Be Given; No Escape Shall Be Availiable….Arrr!!!
Never Forgotten…
Arrr! What Be A TREASURE TROVE?