One glance at the map below, showing the current distribution of U.S. naval assets, reveals something that has almost never happened at any time in the past decade: As the map shows, US aircraft carrier, CVN 71 Theodore Roosevelt is currently on its way out of the Persian Gulf, leaving just the LHD-2 Essex Amphibious Warfare ship group to defend the Persian Gulf and more importantly, leaving the hotly contested middle east without U.S. carrier-based air support for the first time in years. How did this happen? According to USNI News, the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group left U.S. 5th...