US Redeploys Warships In Middle East

Large demonstrations in support of the Syrian government of President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus, the capital, on March 29, 2011. The president addressed parliament on March 30 and denounced the foreign plot against the country., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

US redeploys warships in Mideast

Tue Sep 3, 2013 10:9PM GMT
presstv.ir

The United States Navy has redeployed warships in the Middle East as President Barack Obama has called for a military strike against Syria.

While the destroyer USS Mahan has already left the Mediterranean, a battle group of warships led by the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz is headed toward the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean, a defense official told AFP on Tuesday.

The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Mahan is "on its way to Norfolk," the ship's home port in Virginia. This reduced the number of US destroyers in the Mediterranean to 4.

But, the USS Nimitz, which was set to head back to its home port in Everett, Washington, after a months-long deployment to the Arabian Sea, received orders to head toward Syria, the official added.

Presently, four US aircraft carriers, The USS Stout, Ramage, Barry and Graveley, are now positioned in the eastern Mediterranean waters.

Each of the warships is equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, with analysts estimating as many as 45 missiles on each of them.

The US military has also dispatched to the region an amphibious transport ship, known as the USS San Antonio, which carries helicopters and several hundreds of Marines.

On Tuesday, US house of Representative Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) both said they will support the use of military force in Syria.

The top Democrat in the House, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), has also said she would lend her support to military intervention in Syria.

Obama said Tuesday “America should take action,” adding, “We will be much more effective, we will be stronger, if we take action together.”

Washington accuses Damascus of launching a chemical weapons attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus last week, an allegation denied by the Syrian government.