Reports: U.S. may suspend military exercises with South Korea; sending F-35s to Turkey

After President Trump’s North Korean summit Tuesday, the Military Times reported that major U.S. military exercises with South Korea have been “suspended indefinitely,” citing a senior U.S. official speaking to Agence France Presse. Meanwhile, plans to send F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey on June 21 are still going forward.

CNN also reported that the U.S. is “expected to announce the formal suspension of planning for major August multilateral military drills on the Korean Peninsula as soon as Thursday.”

Though Trump called the South Korea military exercises “provocative,” Admiral James Stavridis (Ret.) told Time magazine Tuesday that “ending 'war games' with South Korea would be a grave mistake” without first seeing tangible evidence not only of “denuclearization by North Korea, but also demilitarization by that nation, which fields the fourth-largest army in the world.”

While the U.S. is suspending military exercises with our allies in South Korea, leaving them vulnerable to the threat of North Korea, which has not yet officially denuclearized, DefenseNews reported Wednesday that the United States is still on course to deliver F-35 fighter planes to Turkey on June 21.

Conservative Review national security correspondent Jordan Schachtel has explained why  Turkey’s posture is a danger to the U.S. Turkey has leaked secret U.S. military data on the war against ISIS, putting American troops at risk and boosting its relations with U.S. adversaries Russia and Iran. Though a member of NATO, Turkey has done more to harm than to help the United States.

Yet after meeting with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu asserted that the United States would not only deliver the first F-35 to Turkey as planned, but that it would “ultimately decide to continue F-35 sales to Turkey,” DefenseNews reported.

Congress has proposed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act containing a broader prohibition on military sales to Turkey, though Cavuşoğlu said earlier this month that “the country [of Turkey] would retaliate” if that measure was taken, DefenseNews reported.

Congress has one week left to decide on the bill, but no decision has been made yet.

Why is the United States neglecting her allies, while sending the most advanced stealth fighter jet in the world to her enemies?

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