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03-04-2003 05:23 PM |
U.S. Orders 24 Bombers to Guam to Deter North Korea
from ABC News.com:
March 4
? WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is sending 24 B-1 and B-52 bombers to the island of Guam in the western Pacific to deter any aggression by North Korea in case of a war in Iraq, defense officials said on Tuesday.
The U.S. officials said the move was a prudent measure to keep peace on the tense Korean peninsula, but said it was not prompted by the interception of a U.S. Air Force reconnaissance plane by four North Korean fighters in international air space on Sunday.
"These movements are not aggressive in nature," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. "Deploying these additional forces is a prudent measure to bolster our defensive posture and as a deterrent."
Davis refused to provide any details on the weapons being moved from the United States, but other defense officials told Reuters privately that two dozen swing-wing B-1 jets and heavy eight-engine B-52s were being moved immediately to Guam under orders signed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
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