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Showdown Looms in Persian Gulf as US Sends 2nd Aircraft Carrier
Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews ^ | 1/16/7 | Gil Zohar

Posted on 01/16/2007 1:13:35 PM PST by SmithL

Is the United States gearing up for an attack on Iran?


The deployment of a second U.S. aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf has analysts speculating that President Bush means to stop Tehran's nuclear ambitions by force if necessary.

The USS John C. Stennis was scheduled to sail Tuesday from its homeport of
Bremerton, Washington. When the second carrrier arrives in the Middle East next month, this will be the first time since the U.S.-led Iraq invasion in 2003 that the United States will have two carrier battle groups in the region, according to a U.S. Navy official.

The increase in U.S. forces is a show of strength by Washington in the face of Iran's growing regional assertiveness and a perception among U.S. adversaries that the United States is vulnerable in Iraq, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday.

The Stennis is a Nimitz-class carrier, with approximately 3,200 sailors. It will stop off in San Diego to pick an air wing of more than 80 planes, including F/A-18 Hornet and Superhornet fighter-bombers.


After a monthlong voyage across the Pacific and Indian oceans, the Stennis will join the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which is already tasked to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, based in the Gulf sheikhdom of Bahrain, said Cmdr. Kevin Aandahl of the Fifth Fleet.

Once in Middle East waters, the second aircraft carrier will significantly boost U.S. air power in the region and serve as a reminder of U.S. firepower to Iran.

"This demonstrates our resolve to do what we can to bring security and stability to the region," Aandahl said. "That's obviously to dissuade others from acting counter to our national interest."

Washington will maintain two carriers in the Middle East "as long as the
situation demands it," Aandahl said. A typical carrier deployment lasts six months.

In a related matter, the U.S. recently deployed a Patriot air defense missile battalion in the Middle East.


As well, at least 16 US F-16 fighter aircraft arrived January 12 in Turkey's strategic Incirlink air base for the first time in three years. According to local Cihan News Agency, the F-16s were accompanied by an early warning system AWACS airplane and tanker airplanes from an American base in Germany. An official at the US embassy in Ankara said the planes had arrived for joint exercises with the Turkish military.

On Thursday, US forces in Iraq detained five suspected members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards operating out of the northern Iraq town of Irbil in Kurdistan.



TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: iran; persiangulf; ussjohncstennis
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To: El Gato

lol I realize that lmao, but I mean cmon who knew they painted helo pads green and yellow.


141 posted on 01/16/2007 8:32:07 PM PST by Ainast
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To: Orange1998

Are you guys just having a good time or do you not care about what the Constitution says?

There is no open authorization for the President to act against anyone other than Iraq at the moment.

Telling Congress what he (the President) did is not part of the Constitution.


142 posted on 01/16/2007 8:35:39 PM PST by romanesq
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To: RightWhale

Well RightWhale, you must have been submerged during the Senate vote on Gulf War I.

I listened to it live on the radio. Guess that was just a meaningless constitutional exercise.


143 posted on 01/16/2007 8:37:37 PM PST by romanesq
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To: Last Dakotan

The President certainly doesn't need authorization to refuel an allies jets.
I doubt the Israelis will make the attempt. They don't have enough payload to guarantee the job gets done.

For that matter, there is no guarantee the US has the payload for Iranian sites either. We don't know for sure other secret sites that may be paralleling their work or in fact further ahead in nuclear development.

It's a very bad game of chicken we are facing. Very bad.


144 posted on 01/16/2007 8:40:29 PM PST by romanesq
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To: matt1234

Using the War Powers Act to attack Iran is going to rip this country apart.
There's no way that 60 days of warfare is going to be acceptable to the Congress or the American people.

I say this not in defense of Iran or our enemies as a whole, but strictly from a constitutional basis, this can't be a unilateral action by the Executive without consultations with key congressional leaders of both parties.


145 posted on 01/16/2007 8:45:32 PM PST by romanesq
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To: SmithL

This is a diversion. We're taking Canada in the spring so we can have a place to live when global warming has the planet in its grip.


146 posted on 01/16/2007 8:57:37 PM PST by Nachoman (Just because you're a kook doesn't mean there isn't a conspiracy.)
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To: romanesq
Using the War Powers Act to attack Iran is going to rip this country apart. There's no way that 60 days of warfare is going to be acceptable to the Congress or the American people.

I say this not in defense of Iran or our enemies as a whole, but strictly from a constitutional basis, this can't be a unilateral action by the Executive without consultations with key congressional leaders of both parties.

You don't seem to get it. It doesn't matter how congress feeeeels or the people feeeeel. They have no power to stop it. It absolutely CAN BE a soley executive action as provided by law. Neither the constitution nor the law prohibit such an action. Screw the lefties; let them howl. They're traitors and cowards anyway.

147 posted on 01/16/2007 9:20:26 PM PST by matt1234
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To: jrooney; jveritas; Nancee
BTW, Jveritas understands the value of freedom and the dangers of terrorism. He volunteers his time and energey to translate the captured documents from Iraq, so the truth of them will someday come out. Jveritas is a hero and deserves nothing but respect for the work he does.

I second that and thank you for spelling it out.

148 posted on 01/17/2007 4:51:51 AM PST by melancholy
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To: Prophet in the wilderness
Most likely in March

We can only guess and hope that it will not be delayed, especially with the new mobile air defense purchased from Russia.

I believe that this new mobile system will be manned by Russians.

149 posted on 01/17/2007 4:56:09 AM PST by melancholy
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To: melancholy

how unfortunate for those Russians tasked to operate
these systems...


150 posted on 01/17/2007 5:04:44 AM PST by rahbert
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To: melancholy; jrooney
Thank you very much fellow freepers, I greatly appreciate your kind words.
151 posted on 01/17/2007 5:08:51 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: SmithL

Next they'll be sending the USS Maddox....................


152 posted on 01/17/2007 5:12:25 AM PST by WhiteGuy (GOP Congress - 16,000 earmarks costing US $50 billion in 2006 - PAUL2008)
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To: rahbert
how unfortunate for those Russians tasked to operate these systems...

LOL....When they get killed, Putin will protest calling them advisors and trainers! It never fails.

153 posted on 01/17/2007 5:19:30 AM PST by melancholy
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To: jveritas

I will note jveritas in my Hero's list. Keep up the good work. I will forever be grateful.


154 posted on 01/17/2007 6:38:25 AM PST by Orange1998
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To: melancholy

Just wanted to let you know that I am aware of this situation and grateful for the ping. You are keeping me up to date whether or not I am able to acknowledge it at the time. So, thank you, friend!


155 posted on 01/17/2007 6:50:16 AM PST by Nancee ((Nancee Lynn Cheney))
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To: Orange1998

Thank you very much, I am just your humble freeper :)


156 posted on 01/17/2007 7:29:54 AM PST by jveritas (Support The Commander in Chief in Times of War)
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To: SmithL

If Tehran Knew!:

"In America, they lie for tactical reasons, stating over and over that military action against Iran is unlikely. However in Iran, out of ignorance, they reiterate that American military action against their country is impossible because the US is "unable" to do so!

We say and hope our analysis is wrong. A possible military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities is in the final stages. Unless a political miracle occurs that revives the halted dialog between Iran and the international community, Iran and its neighboring countries should not be surprised by a scenario that includes American military action. "

Just maybe, President Bush is purposely allowing the media and the left to spout their garbage in order to create the illusion that we are completely incapable of taking any action against Iran. It would come as a complete surprise if we did take action.

Iranian Map: Before our upcoming Victory:

Iranian Map: After our upcoming Victory:

Over the past week, the U.S. Navy has given orders to the U.S.S. John Stennis carrier battle group, based in Bremerton, WA, to steam toward the Persian Gulf, where it will join the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Navy sources say the Pentagon is getting ready to announce the dispatch of a third carrier battle group – the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan – from San Diego. That will make three carrier battle groups in the region starting at around the end of January.

Oh, and along with them is the amphibious assault group led by the U.S.S. Boxer, which can land several thousand U.S. Marines to seize and destroy strategic sites near the coast at a moment’s notice. (Busheir? Bandar Abbas? Jask? The three Persian Gulf islands Iran seized from the UAE in the 1990s and has since fortified to harass Gulf shipping? Your pick).

A Quote from: The Dogs of War - Lessons of the 20th Century. By Victor Davis Hanson, (author most recently of Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power):

"I would not wish to fight the United States - either militarily, politically, or culturally. For every threat, our history teaches us that Americans offer not just a rejoinder, but the specter of a devastating answer of a magnitude almost inconceivable to those now chanting and threatening in the streets of the Middle East.

Do they have any idea of what sort of dangerous people we really are? Do they understand the history of the names of those ships now off their coasts, like the USS Peleliu or Enterprise, or the pedigree of the 82nd or 101st Airborne?"



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157 posted on 01/17/2007 7:37:04 AM PST by Grampa Dave (GW has more Honor and Integrity in his little finger than ALL of the losers on the "hate Bush" band)
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To: melancholy

Here is a headline from another thread ( U.S. MULLS IRAN ATTACK IN EARLY 2007 ) ( http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1768970/posts?page=7 ) .... maybe my hunch was right after all.


158 posted on 01/17/2007 9:22:34 AM PST by Prophet in the wilderness (PSALM 53 : 1 The FOOL hath said in his heart , There is no GOD .)
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To: Prophet in the wilderness

Yes, it's coming alright and thank you for the link.

A lot of nay-sayers on that thread. I always said that I have faith in this president to act soon rather than leaving it to a RINO or Hitlery!


159 posted on 01/17/2007 9:42:22 AM PST by melancholy
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To: romanesq

Declaration of War is an actual declaration by Congress. Funding is not a declaration.


160 posted on 01/17/2007 9:50:58 AM PST by RightWhale
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