USS Theodore Roosevelt
USS Ronald Reagan
Posted on 08/07/2008 7:02:21 AM PDT by jhpigott
Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times.
Kuwait began finalizing its "emergency war plan" on being told the vessels were bound for the region.
The US Navy will neither confirm nor deny that carriers are currently en route. US Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment because of what a spokesman termed "force-protection policy."
While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believes are heading for the Middle East, The Media Line's defense analyst said they could be the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan. Within the last month, the Roosevelt completed an exercise along the US east coast focusing on communication among navies of different countries. It has since been declared ready for operational duties. The Reagan, currently with the Seventh Fleet, has just set sail from Japan. The Seventh Fleet area of operation stretches from the East Coast of Africa to the International Date Line.
Meanwhile, the Arabic news agency Moheet reported at the end of July that an unnamed American destroyer, accompanied by two Israeli naval vessels traveled through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean. A week earlier, a US nuclear submarine accompanied by a destroyer and a supply ship moved into the Mediterranean, according to Moheet.
Currently there are two US naval battle groups operating in the Gulf: one is an aircraft carrier group, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, which carries some 65 fighter aircraft. The other group is headed by the USS Peleliu which maintains a variety of planes and strike helicopters.
The ship movements coincide with the latest downturn in relations between Washington and Teheran. The US and Iran are at odds over Iran's nuclear program, which the Bush administration claims is aimed at producing material for nuclear weapons; however, Teheran argues it is only for power generation.
Kuwait, like other Arab countries in the Gulf, fears it will be caught in the middle should the US decide to launch an air strike against Iran if negotiations fail. The Kuwaitis are finalizing details of their security, humanitarian and vital services, the newspaper reported.
The six members of the GCC - Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman - lie just across the Gulf from Iran. Generals in the Iranian military have repeatedly warned that American interests in the region will be targeted if Iran is subjected to any military strike by the US or its Western allies.
Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet, while there is a sizeable American base in Qatar. It is assumed the US also has military personnel in the other Gulf states, The Media Line's defense analyst said.
Iran is thought to have intelligence operatives working in the GCC states, according to Dubai-based military analysts.
The standoff between the US and Iran has left the Arab nations' political leaders in something of a bind. The Media Line analyst said they were being used as pawns by Washington and Teheran. Iran is offering them economic and industrial sweeteners, while the US is boosting their defense capabilities. Presidents George W. Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have paid visits to the GCC states in a bid to win their support.
I hope we are past the point where we are announcing our moves in advance. Interesting though that this is a Kuwaiti source. How would they know?
This story gets recycled in the media over and over. Seems this happens a couple of times per year. I can assure you that the Pentagon would not share any plans with any of those Gulf States ahead of time. Those regimes, including Kuwait, are infested with Islamists who would warn Iran of any activity ahead of time.
ping
Positioning for operations in support of an impending Israeli strike perhaps?
Yeah, for the crew of the carrier being relieved and heading for home. In this case the Lincoln.
USS Theodore Roosevelt
USS Ronald Reagan
I think it happened the same week last summer. I remember because I’m at the beach this week.
looks unlikely, oil is up only a book $1.34
I would think that the Arabs are very skeered of Iran.................and for good reason..............
Well if Roosevelt and Reagan relieve the Lincoln . . . and i think my math is right here . . . that would mean we are rotating in 2 carriers and pulling out the only one we currently have in the Gulf . . . A 2 carrier prescence in the Gulf, where we have only had a 1 carrier prescence for the last 8-12 months would be big news.
I seriously doubt we will keep all 3 on station, but we could briefly have a window where 3 carriers would be within strike range of Iran
Iran Issues New Warnings After Defying a Deadline
By NAZILA FATHI - August 5, 2008
TEHRAN — Iran warned Monday that it could easily close a critical Persian Gulf waterway to oil shipments and said that it had a new long-range naval weapon that could sink enemy ships nearly 200 miles away.
The warning, by the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, followed the weekend expiration of an informal deadline for Iran to respond to an offer of incentives from six world powers to stop enriching uranium.
In comments carried by the semiofficial Iranian news agency, Fars, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the head of the Revolutionary Guards, said Iran was capable of imposing “unlimited controls” at the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, an important oil route.
“Closing the Strait of Hormuz for an unlimited period of time would be very easy,” he was quoted as saying. “The Guards have recently tested a naval weapon which I can say with certainty that the enemy’s ships would not be safe within the range of 300 kilometers,” General Jafari was quoted as saying. “Without any doubt we will send them to the depths of the sea.”
General Jafari gave no details about the type of weapon tested, but he said it was Iranian-built and “unique in the world.”
He said it would have the range to reach enemy warships in the Persian Gulf, apparently a reference to United States warships, which have been conducting naval maneuvers there.
Iran is surrounded.
And for all of their talk, they're not exactly a mighty military power.
and here we go. 3 carriers is a big stick to wave in someone’s face.
But they are a great subversive power. They have infiltrated all of the religious institutions across the region from the western Mediterranean to India. The Arabs in charge are acutely aware that Iran could unleash a wave of “religious unrest” against their regimes if they were to become too friendly with the US or Israel..................
Iran has tried to cause unrest in at least one of these friendly nations and is still trying.
Unsuccessfully.
Time to clean up Jimmy’s mess?
They will keep meddling and keep instigating. Lebanon is there model. Egypt and Jordan are in their sights..........
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