AFP: “US and Thailand begin joint war games”
BANGKOK (AFP) — Thailand launched its annual war games Wednesday with troops from the United States, Japan, Singapore and Indonesia linking up with Thai forces for two weeks of joint military exercises.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the biggest war games in Southeast Asia in the northern city of Chiang Mai, US Deputy Chief of Mission James Entwistle said the focus would be on peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.
“Multinational responses to regional crises are likely to be the norm in the future. It is therefore vital that friends train together in order to better address future requirements,” Entwistle told the gathering.
“Cobra Gold is unparalleled in preparing our militaries for the real-world priorities of peace support, stability and reconstruction, humanitarian assistance and combat operations,” he said.
About 11,600 military personnel from the five nations are involved in the games, which run until February 17.
Here’s more on Cobra Gold, and here’re a couple of images ((The robot in the second photo appears to be the ASI Chaos small robot)).
Over at Global Post, Patrick Winn also weighs in on the military exercise.