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American Armada Prepares To Take On Iran
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 2-24-2007 | Damien McElroy

Posted on 02/23/2007 5:31:04 PM PST by blam

American armada prepares to take on Iran

By Damien McElroy aboard USS Eisenhower
Last Updated: 1:09am GMT 24/02/2007

It is four and a half acres of US power in the middle of the Arabian Sea but the influence of USS Dwight D Eisenhower stretches hundreds of miles.

The aircraft carrier, backed by its sister vessel, a handful of destroyers and a shoal of support ships, has placed a ring of steel around an increasingly unstable region.

While the Eisenhower is ostensibly assisting US operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is increasingly occupied by the looming threat of Iran.

Recent tensions between the US and Iran over Teheran's meddling in Iraq and attempts to build a nuclear bomb have raised the prospect of its third regional war in a decade.

The addition of a second aircraft carrier to its strike groups has fuelled the belief that the US is gearing up for a fight with Iran. Not since the Iraq war in 2003 has America amassed so much fire power around the Persian Gulf.

As flagship of the Fifth Fleet, the Eisenhower welcomed the arrival of the second Nimitz-class nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS John C Stennis, and its accompanying destroyers on Tuesday.

Captain Dan Cloyd, the Eisenhower's commanding officer, compared the situation with the international tension of the Cold War.

"There was a time when we had two aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean," he told The Daily Telegraph. "The world changes and we adapt."

The quietly spoken Capt Cloyd embraced the suggestion that the dual deployment is at the forefront of efforts to stop Iran getting a nuclear bomb, pointing out that his maritime assets have been tasked to quash any challenge to global security.

"Our presence here is an affirmation of our resolve to engage with the nations of the region either where we share common goals or where we face challenges."

The Eisenhower has more than 5,000 people on board and its range of missions is virtually limitless.

As it patrols the shipping lanes of the Strait of Hormuz, the Eisenhower ensures the safe passage of oil tankers. It also prevents the trading routes being used to transport materials that would help rogue nations build a nuclear weapon.

Capt Cloyd said: "Our maritime security mission is about denying the use of the seas to any potential spread of weapons of mass destruction."

Iran's belligerent posture has increased the challenges facing the Eisenhower since it was deployed to the Middle East last October. Vice Admiral Patrick Walsh, the commander of the Fifth Fleet, issued a stark warning that Iran risks triggering an "accidental war" during aggressive military manoeuvres.

During the Great Prophet 2 missile test in November, the Islamic Republic fired a Shabab missile into the six-mile corridor of shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz. In such a constricted corridor, the results could have been disastrous.

With Teheran's real strategic intentions unclear, the US takes the threats made very seriously. "They threaten to use oil as a weapon. They threaten to close the Straits of Hormuz," Adml Walsh said. "It is the combination of the rhetoric, the tone, and the aggressive exercises in very constrained waters that gives us concern."

US commanders ascribe the increase in instability to increasingly deliberate aggressive actions by Teheran. For that reason the deployment of the carriers is designed to intensify pressure on Iran to step back from the brink.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: american; armada; iran; usseisenhower
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1 posted on 02/23/2007 5:31:07 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

I don't know whether to wish for Iran to fire on our ships, or pray they don't.


2 posted on 02/23/2007 5:34:42 PM PST by HoosierHawk
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To: HoosierHawk

Pray they dDO so we can end this thing once and for all !


3 posted on 02/23/2007 5:35:39 PM PST by Renegade
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To: Renegade

It's coming. Are we ready?


4 posted on 02/23/2007 5:36:24 PM PST by HoosierHawk
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To: blam; jeffers; nuconvert; irish guard; Cap Huff; Southack

And so it begins..


5 posted on 02/23/2007 5:36:33 PM PST by Dog
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To: blam

watch out nancy pullhosie is going to get her panties in a bunch.


6 posted on 02/23/2007 5:37:59 PM PST by mrmargaritaville
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To: blam

"During the Great Prophet 2 missile test in November, the Islamic Republic fired a Shabab missile into the six-mile corridor of shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz. In such a constricted corridor, the results could have been disastrous."

The odds of Iran making zee boo-boo keep going up.


7 posted on 02/23/2007 5:38:57 PM PST by SaxxonWoods (Boycott all Leftist Media, ignore them and they will go away...)
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To: blam

Carriers need room to maneuver. They are in pretty tight quarters where they are now in case they come into harm's way.


8 posted on 02/23/2007 5:39:14 PM PST by Citizen Tom Paine (An old sailor sends we need a 800 ship Navy.)
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To: Renegade

Agreed. I also look at it from the angle of better sooner than later.


9 posted on 02/23/2007 5:40:03 PM PST by Pox (If it's a Coward you are searching for, you need look no further than the Democrats.)
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To: SaxxonWoods

Someone making zee boo boo is what we should worry about.


10 posted on 02/23/2007 5:40:10 PM PST by Dog
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To: blam

I think there are 3 full naval battle groups in the area...


11 posted on 02/23/2007 5:40:55 PM PST by xcamel (Press to Test, Release to Detonate)
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To: blam
the influence of USS Dwight D Eisenhower stretches hundreds of miles.

I Like Ike!

12 posted on 02/23/2007 5:41:39 PM PST by sionnsar (†trad-anglican.faithweb.com†|Iran Azadi| 5yst3m 0wn3d - it's N0t Y0ur5 (SONY) | UN: Useless Nations)
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To: SaxxonWoods

Imahandjob will make the mistake soon enough.


13 posted on 02/23/2007 5:41:44 PM PST by bobby.223
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To: blam

Hmmm... Haven't heard from Ahmadinejad recently about wasting Israel and the USA. He's laying low with his butt boy Mookie


14 posted on 02/23/2007 5:43:03 PM PST by dennisw (What one man can do another can do -- "The Edge")
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To: xcamel

No tellin' how many Subs,,


15 posted on 02/23/2007 5:43:17 PM PST by silentreignofheroes (When the Last Two Prophets are taken, there will be no Tommorrow!)
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To: bobby.223
Imahandjob will make the mistake soon enough.

One false move, punk!!

16 posted on 02/23/2007 5:44:07 PM PST by dennisw (What one man can do another can do -- "The Edge")
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To: silentreignofheroes

you know I'm not tellin' ...
;-)


17 posted on 02/23/2007 5:44:23 PM PST by xcamel (Press to Test, Release to Detonate)
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To: HoosierHawk
I don't know whether to wish for Iran to fire on our ships, or pray they don't.

"The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war,"
-Erasmus

18 posted on 02/23/2007 5:46:46 PM PST by Zeroisanumber (Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?)
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To: blam
This article is hod wash. There is no plan to attack Iran. Both the Pentagon and W have said so. The Ike doesn't carry 5,000 personnel and the Stennis is a virtual ship./ sarcasm off

We aren't going to attack Iran. It would be stupid now. Jimmy Carter should of done it and it is 30 years tooooo late.

19 posted on 02/23/2007 5:47:57 PM PST by mad_as_he$$ (So many geeks, so few circuses.)
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To: mrmargaritaville

you assume she wears em


20 posted on 02/23/2007 5:48:51 PM PST by advertising guy (If computer skills named us, I'd be back-space delete.)
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