US amphibious assault ship, the USS Kearsarge
The USS Enterprise now in the Red Sea will be in the Mediterrean soon.
Posted on 03/01/2011 11:35:13 PM PST by Cardhu
Two US warships would be entering Egypt's Suez Canal on Wednesday morning as the threat of military intervention in Libya looms large, an Egyptian official says.
Earlier on Tuesday, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the USS Kearsarge, an amphibious ship capable of carrying up to 2,000 Marines, and the USS Ponce assault ship will be passing through the Mediterranean shortly, Reuters reported Tuesday.
According to top US military officials, the Kearsarge warship will be carrying 400 Marines from the United States and will be joining the USS Enterprise, which is in the Red Sea en route to the Suez Canal.
On Monday, the United States positioned naval and air forces around crisis-hit Libya as the Libyan regime's bloody crackdown on anti-government protests continue to rage in the North African country.
The United States, along with Britain and France, has also sent hundreds of Special Forces to Libya's east. The forces are setting up bases in the cities of Benghazi and Tobruk.
The move comes against the backdrop of heated discussions over the possibility of imposing a no-fly zone on Libya, and a NATO-backed military intervention. The potential intervention, on which no unanimous decision has been made, has raised concerns over dire consequences it might have in Arab states.
However, British envoy to the United Nations Mark Lyall Grant stated that the 15-member UN Security Council, which slapped sanctions on the Libyan regime last week, may decide to put up a no-fly zone in the North African country.
(Excerpt) Read more at presstv.ir ...
The USS Enterprise now in the Red Sea will be in the Mediterrean soon.
Stupid move!
How long does it take to travel the Suez?
And do what?
Then entire world knows we have the weakest POTUS since carter and, amazingly, an even WEAKER SOS.
A guy who never did anything more than rabble-rouse and a broad who never did anything more than MARRY a guy who was the ultimate car salesman.
Hey, tiny plurality of the USA, how you liking that hopey-changey?
God knows, the middle east mooslims are LOVING it!
One of the most important waterways in the world, the Suez Canal runs north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in northeastern Egypt. This image of the canal covers an area 36 kilometers (22 miles) wide and 60 kilometers (47 miles) long in three bands of the reflected visible and infrared wavelength region. It shows the northern part of the canal, with the Mediterranean Sea just visible in the upper right corner. The Suez Canal connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez, an arm of the Red Sea.
The artificial canal provides an important shortcut for ships operating between both European and American ports and ports located in southern Asia, eastern Africa, and Oceania. With a length of about 195 kilometers (121 miles) and a minimum channel width of 60 meters (197 feet), the Suez Canal is able to accommodate ships as large as 150,000 tons fully loaded. Because no locks interrupt traffic on this sea level waterway, the transit time only averages about 15 hours.
Excluding wait time, about one day - because of the narrowness of the canal ships can on travel at about 4 or 5 knots depending upon the size.
They generally make it in two stages to the Bitter Lakes. where they wait for the southboud traffic to complete then they join the North bound convoy
What, is Hussein going to threaten Israel, too? I don’t think our armed forces will go along with that! < /half joking>
Who is going to paint the big red bull’s eye on the sides?
I don’t think this is a good idea to have our ships go through the canal.
Oblunder better not get us mixed up in this disaster.
God protect all our service men and women.
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General Barry Obama - Not!
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