Reuters: As Obama weighed patrol to counter China, Pentagon urged faster action
The U.S. naval challenge to China's territorial assertiveness in the South China Sea this week came after months of frustration within the Pentagon at what some defense officials saw as unnecessary delays by the White House and State Department in approving the mission.
As early as mid-May, the Pentagon was considering sending military aircraft and ships to assert the principle of freedom of navigation around China's artificial islands in the Spratly archipelago after Defense Secretary Ash Carter requested options to respond to their rapid construction.
That patrol eventually took place on Tuesday when the USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef, triggering an angry rebuke from China and threatening to ratchet up tensions between the world's two biggest economies.
Update: Q&A: Impact of US Warship Sailing Near China-Held Island (NYT/AP)
WNU Editor: President Obama has to look at the bigger picture .... the Pentagon's responsibility and advice is just one part of that bigger picture. But this revelation does blow out of the water the White House's claims that this was just a routine naval mission .... this leak reveals that it clearly was not.
Update #2: U.S., Chinese naval officials to discuss South China Sea situation: U.S. official (Reuters).