"We don't consider the Iwo and Boxer to be carriers, though they have flight decks for helos and VTOL."
I got into this on another thread. With the Osprey coming and the VTOL fighter, it's getting hard to distinguish the two. And the Iwo and Boxer displace around 44,000 tons, so they are small carrier size.
In current configuration and plussed up on AV-8Bs, they can at best be considered equivalent to British carriers. All said and done, AV-8Bs don't bring much to penetration strike capabilities.
Now when the JSF shows up its start to be a different ball game. They will then add more substantially to a strike capability, but they will still be limited by lack of supporting elements if operating autonomously.
Finally, I didn't say they weren't carriers. I said that WE don't consider them carriers. In comparison to other carriers of the world, they stack up fairly well.