The U.S. has eleven aircraft carriers, the ultimate symbol of American military reach, and for the past three years, it's kept two of them near Iran's shores to deter it from doing something rash like blocking a major energy chokepoint. But that was when the Pentagon wasn't facing massive budget cuts. Now the Navy is going back to a one-aircraft-carrier strategy.
The Associated Press' Lolita Baldor reports that when the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower returns to the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet later this month, it won't be accompanied by another carrier. A scheduled deployment this week by the USS Harry S. Truman has been cancelled. The USS John C. Stennis, currently in Mideast waters, will return home after the Eisenhower arrives and has no replacement lined up. Central Command representatives didn't respond to requests for elaboration.
'Facing budget uncertainty ' including a Continuing Resolution and the looming potential for across-the-board sequestration cuts ' the U.S. Navy made this request to the Secretary and he approved,' explained Pentagon spokesman George Little. The Truman and the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg will 'deploy on short notice in the event they are needed to respond to national security contingencies.
No wonder Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) remarked during a press conference on Wednesday, 'I'm sure Iran is very supportive of sequestration,' referring to automatic budget cuts slated to take effect March 1.
This time last year, when Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating tensions ' a move that would have interrupted as much as a fifth of the world's oil shipments ' the U.S. quietly and temporarily added a third aircraft carrier near Iran's shores. Even two aircraft carriers is more than any other navy possesses.
But Graham is still overstating the case. Most nations, Iran included, don't have any carriers. And aircraft carriers do not travel alone: they travel in battle groups. The Eisenhower's includes eight aircraft squadrons; three guided-missile destroyers; and a guided-missile cruiser. Then there are all of the minesweepers, helicopters and patrol boats already in the region. Pretty much no other navy is capable of keeping that kind of seapower on station in a financial crunch.
Iran did some coincidental swaggering on Wednesday. As David Cenciotti reports, it released footage from the cameras of the RQ-170 Sentinel that it captured in late 2011, seeming to end all doubt that it really did obtain and extract data from the secretive drone.
'The United States will continue to maintain a robust military presence in the [Middle East], including the current carrier presence and a mix of other assets, to fulfill enduring commitments to our partners,' Little continued. 'The U.S. military continues to stand ready to respond to any contingency and to confront any threat in the region.' Still, it would rather have both carriers keeping an eye on Iran.
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