U.S. wargames in the Pacific could be spent cleaning the Gulf Oilspill

Remember the stink this weekend boat race caused?  Well how about the U.S. military conducting 6 weeks of war games in the pacific to prepare for a real natural or man made disaster... with 20,000 personnel, 150 aircrafts, 34 ships and 5 submarines in the Pacific.... while the Gulf of Mexico is a... "hemorrhaging ulcer" 

This from The China Post

 Updated Sunday, June 27, 2010 10:30 pm TWN, AFP  WASHINGTON -- Malaysia and Thailand have for the first time joined a major U.S.-led exercise in the Pacific Ocean in which some 20,000 personnel are practicing how to coordinate in a crisis, an officer said Friday...

Billed as the world's largest international maritime war games, the biennial Rim of the Pacific Exercise, or RIMPAC, opened Wednesday for a six-week run off Hawaii.

Colombia, France, Malaysia and Thailand are all new participants in RIMPAC, according to the U.S. Third Fleet, which coordinates the maneuvers.

“By having these nations participate for the first time, they're exposed to how we operate,” said U.S. Navy Captain Paul McKeon, RIMPAC's exercise control officer.

“This will allow these new participants to be able to very quickly become part of a multinational organization in the event of a short-notice, real-world crisis event, whether it's hostilities or if it's a natural or man-made event,” he told AFP by telephone...

A total of more than 150 aircraft, 34 ships and five submarines are taking part in the exercise, according to the U.S. military.