Fourth Aircraft Carrier Deploys From the U.S. as Trump
On Tuesday, the Nimitz-class carrier USS George H.W. Bush deployed from Norfolk, and she is expected to join carriers USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford on station in the Mideast. On Sunday, a fourth carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, quietly departed San Diego for a mission in the Indo-Pacific. The Pentagon did not announce the departure and it was reported several days later by San Diego's NBC affiliate.
As is standard, the ship is under way for the purpose of routine operations, the Navy told NBC. "In the interest of operational security, we do not discuss future operations, schedules, or specific personnel numbers," a spokesperson for Third Fleet told local media.
The presence of a carrier strike group in the Western Pacific would augment the capabilities of forward-deployed carrier USS George Washington, based out of Yokosuka, and would offset the withdrawal of the Tripoli Amphibious Ready Group. USS Tripoli and her escorts redeployed from the Philippine Sea last month to join the growing force in the Mideast, leaving U.S. 7th Fleet with fewer resources.
If USS Theodore Roosevelt continues westward, maintaining a typical 20 knot transit speed, the Navy could accumulate as many as four carriers within range of Iran in three weeks' time. Within the same timeframe, U.S. Central Command expects to receive about 2,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne and about 5,000 Marines attached to the Boxer and Tripoli Amphibious Ready Groups. Previously-discussed uses for these forces could include attempts to seize Kharg Island; capture Iranian nuclear material; or sweep Iranian forces from the margins of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Pentagon has refused to rule out the possibility of a ground operation on Iranian territory, which would extend the conflict's duration and raise certain risks, analysts warn.
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President Donald Trump said in a speech Wednesday that the conflict could be over within three weeks' time. “We’re going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks,” Trump in a televised address Wednesday night. “We’re going to bring them back to the stone ages, where they belong.”
Brent oil prices jumped upwards by five percent following the president's speech, reaching $106 per barrel.
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