The
Voyage of the Good Ship Carl Vinson
By Ken
Meyercord
What I
believe to be the true significance of the
mix-up over the wanderings of the USS Carl
Vinson has been entirely missed, even by
the alternative media. I think it provides an
intriguing insight into the machinations of the
nefarious, secretive – some say nonexistent –
“Deep State”.
On
April 8th Pacific Command announced that the
Vinson (previously famous for being the
carrier from which Osama bin Laden’s body was
unceremoniously dumped in the presence of only a
few top officers) was headed for Korea, a show
of resolve lauded by the ever trigger-happy
corporate media. On April 12th, in an interview
on Fox, President Trump confirmed an armada was
headed for the war-zone (we’re still technically
at war with North Korea), a claim repeated later
that day by administration spokesman, Sean
Spicer. Then, on April 17th it was revealed that
the Good Ship Lollygag was actually meandering
around the Indian Ocean on its way to maneuvers
with the Australian navy.
Was the
announcement of the Vinson’s departure
for Korea a ruse, meant to frighten the North
Koreans and disrupt their
military-hardware-boasting celebration of the
105th birthday of the state’s founder (on April
15th)? Was President Trump in on the joke, or
did he really not know where one of the aircraft
carrier battlegroups he commands was headed
(only 3 of our 10 carriers were “in theater” at
the time; seems like even he could keep track)?
If
Trump didn’t know what the Vinson’s
course was, it speaks volumes about who is
actually in charge of our foreign policy. Who
made the decision to send, or pretend to send,
the Vinson to the Sea of Japan? This is
no minor foreign policy decision as things go,
considering the present chest-beating over North
Korea. If Trump didn’t make it, who did? The
admiral in charge of the Pacific fleet?
Possibly, but the military’s role is to execute
policy, not make it, especially at that level.
If not him, who – some unknown personages deep
within the bowels of the National Security
Council? Were even these powerful troglodytes
taking orders from some more profound
puppeteers?
Those
who would attribute the confusion over the
Vinson to a simple misunderstanding between
two branches of our government argue that the
President simply misspoke, as is his wont. Or
that he and the Pacific Command were
misunderstood in that they, like a cable
repairman who promises to be at your house on
Tuesday between 10 and 2 but doesn’t specify
what week, meant that the Vinson would
someday be stationed off the coast of
North Korea, which is true enough as the ship is
now belatedly headed that way.
That
the Vinson’s deployment has just now
been extended by a month suggests the decision
to send it north was only made after its much
ballyhooed appearance on the frontlines failed
to materialize. When its absence became public
knowledge, the South Koreans went apoplectic, as
they saw it as a bluff the North Koreans called
and won. They question whether our commitment to
come to their defense in case of attack is also
a bluff. In light of our ally’s nervous
reaction, we had little choice but to have the
Vinson make an appearance, no matter
how tardy, off their shore.
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Questions about a Deep State raised by the soggy
saga of the Vinson echo similar
questions raised by another potentially
revealing episode: the Stuxnet incident. This
ingenious software implanted in Iranian nuclear
controls caused hundreds of their centrifuges to
explode. Who made the decision to carry out the
sabotage, and who knew about it before Stuxnet’s
malicious success was announced by the Iranians
in 2010? Did Secretary of State Clinton know as
she negotiated with the Iranians over their
nuclear program, or was she oblivious as to why
the Iranians were so hostile, they knowing but
not yet revealing what she didn’t know: that the
US had committed an act of war against them?
Trump’s
ignorance concerning the whereabouts of the
Vinson suggests even a President can be out
of the loop when it comes to foreign policy
(maybe Obama’s memoir will shed some light on
this; if so, his $65-million advance will be
money well spent.) Even without postulating a
Deep State, what responsible member of our
national security apparatus would entrust our
deepest secrets to a buffoon who is likely to
post them in a tweet (“@realDonaldTrump: Just
told nuclear launch code. So obvious! Only four
letters and rhymes with ‘tire’.”).
Obviously, the evidence backing up my
speculations is thin (that’s what “deep”
implies), but a world turned murky by mirrored
machines belching smoke, curtains shut tight
against the light, and suspicious shadows
lurking in the dark legitimizes – in fact,
demands – speculation, so long as we keep it
wide-eyed, but not wild-eyed.
Ken
Meyercord is a retiree living in the Washington,
DC area, where he haunts think-tank events by
asking impertinent questions of the pompous, the
hypocritical, and the dishonest. He recently
published his memoir of the Vietnam War years,
Draft-Dodging Odyssey
(under the penname Ken Kiask). He can be reached
at:
kiaskfm@verizon.net.
Read other articles by Ken.
This article was first published by
Dissident Voice
The
views expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Information Clearing House.
