World War 3: U.S. Attacks Syrian Army & Moves Second Aircraft Carrier To North Korea, Is Trump Planning A War?

The threat of World War 3 has become far more imminent in the past few months as tensions have escalated with North Korea, Syria, and even Russia after Trump took office. However, the recent development on both the Syrian and North Korean front have raised the possibility of the outbreak of a war sooner than expected.

On Thursday, U.S. warplanes attacked Syrian army and pro-government militia in Syria. Reports also emerged that the U.S. Navy dispatched a second aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to the Korean peninsula. The sudden escalation on both fronts has resulted in experts contemplating the possibility of war.

The airstrikes took place in the Syrian town of Al-Tanf, where about 27 vehicles breached the 34 miles radius of army convoy and reached 18 miles close to the base. The region is considered as deconfliction zone under an agreement between U.S. and Russia.

The U.S. military said that aircraft fired warning shots to dissuade the vehicles from advancing further, but when the regime vehicles did not turn around, American aircrafts attacked the Syrian military and pro-government militia vehicles, according to CBS News.

The recent attack by the American military is the first such incident where the U.S. directly struck the pro-government forces. According to the Syrians, the airstrike resulted in a loss of four T-62 tanks and a Soviet-made radar-guided anti-aircraft vehicle. At least six military personnel also lost their lives.

Reacting to the strikes, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Gennady Gatilov said that the attacks violated Syrian sovereignty and were totally unacceptable. He further added that military action against Syrian armed forces would aggravate the situation and affect the political process.

If true, this is FRICKIN ILLEGAL. Trump does not have Congressional authorization to attack Syria, a country that has not attacked US. https://t.co/5cf7gBVwC7

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 18, 2017

In a separate incident, Syrian SU-22 fighter-bomber was intercepted by a pair of F-22 fighter aircraft in the deconfliction zone. It was reported that these events are the result of a struggle between the U.S. and Syria to control the south-eastern frontier of Syria, a route for Iran to maintain its forces in Syria.

As reported by the Independent, America is possibly trying to cut-off Syria from Iran and Iraq. It appears that U.S. was fortunate that no Russian army personnel was accompanying pro-Assad forces, which was possible as Russia is a supporter the of Assad regime. Loss of lives on the Russian side could have deteriorated the situation possibly resulting in World War 3.

The situation in North Korea also does not appear convincing. The U.S. Navy dispatched a second aircraft carrier to the Korean peninsula. USS Ronald Reagan left its homeport of Yokosuka, Japan, on Tuesday after completing a maintenance period and sea trials.

It will a conduct dual-carrier training exercises with the USS Carl Vinson amid the rising tensions in the region. Rear Adm. Charles Williams said in a press release that this move was to ensure Ronald Reagan and the remainder of the strike group integrated properly moving forward.

USS Ronald Reagan is a 1,092-foot long Nimitz-class carrier with a crew of 4,539 and is equipped with roughly 60 aircraft. It will conduct various training exercises in the region but will primarily focus on its ability to launch and recover aircraft safely.

This move by the Navy came after North Korea test fired the Hwasong-12 missile. The launch was considered by the experts as a significant technological advancement by Pyongyang. It was described as a step forward in developing an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S.

After successfully test-firing the missile, Kim Jong-un warned Trump that “US mainland and Pacific operations” were within striking distance of North Korea. According to state-run Korean Central News Agency, the new missiles were capable of carrying a large-size nuclear warhead.

It is reported that President Trump carries the nuclear launch codes printed on a credit-card sized piece of plastic nicknamed “the biscuit,” as reported by the Inquisitr. Notably, Trump has the authority to carry out a nuclear attack as the military will simply confirm the code and launch a nuclear strike, possibly starting World War 3.

Both Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un have raised the possibility of direct conflict between U.S. and North Korea. In an interview, Trump had said that there was a possibility of “a major, major conflict with North Korea” and on being asked about future military action, he said, “I don’t know. I mean, we’ll see.”

[Featured Image by U.S. Navy, Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images]