Obama starts massive US Air-Sea-Marine build-up opposite Iran

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

debkafile’s military sources report a decision by the Obama administration to boost US military strength in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf regions in the short term with an extra air and naval strike forces and 6,000 Marine and sea combatants. Carrier Strike Group 10, headed by the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, sails out of the US Navy base at Norfolk, Virginia Friday, May 21. On arrival, it will raise the number of US carriers off Iranian shores to two. Up until now, President Barack Obama kept just one aircraft carrier stationed off the coast of Iran, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Arabian Sea, in pursuit of his policy of diplomatic engagement with Tehran.

For the first time, too, the US force opposite Iran will be joined by a German warship, the frigate FGS Hessen, operating under American command.

It is also the first time that Obama, since taking office 14 months ago, is sending military reinforcements to the Persian Gulf. Our military sources have learned that the USS Truman is just the first element of the new buildup of US resources around Iran. It will take place over the next three months, reaching peak level in late July and early August. By then, the Pentagon plans to have at least 4 or 5 US aircraft carriers visible from Iranian shores.

The USS Truman’s accompanying Strike Group includes Carrier Air Wing Three (Battle Axe) – which has 7 squadrons – 4 of F/A-18 Super Hornet and F/A-18 Hornet bomber jets, as well as spy planes and early warning E-2 Hawkeyes that can operate in all weather conditions; the Electronic Attack Squadron 130 for disrupting enemy radar systems; and Squadron 7 of helicopters for anti-submarine combat (In its big naval exercise last week, Iran exhibited the Velayat 89 long-range missile for striking US aircraft carriers and Israel warships from Iranian submarines.)

Another four US warships will be making their way to the region to join the USS Truman and its Strike Group. They are the guided-missile cruiser USS Normandy and guided missile destroyers USS Winston S. Churchill, USS Oscar Austin and USS Ross.

debkafile’s military sources disclose that the 6,000 Marines and sailors aboard the Truman Strike Group come from four months of extensive and thorough training to prepare them for anticipated missions in the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean.

May 20, 2010 | 14 Comments »

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  1. You would think, but Obama is insane like Telly Savalas’ character in Beau Geste

    That is the 1966 Beau Geste remake.

    The 1939 Beau Geste original (Gary Cooper/Robert Preston/Ray Milland) is the better version.

    And in that one there is no crazy Major Dagineau.

    In fact, Savalas portrays a wisecracking, lollipop-sucking New York detective who waits until after the election to assail the Jewish State.

  2. Israel should be safe until the day after the November election.

    You would think, but Obama is insane like Telly Savalas’ character in Beau Geste; he just keeps propping up dead Democrats in the battlements to make it look like the fort is manned.

    If Obama can find a faster way to destroy, he will do it regardless of elections or anyone, or anything. In a national emergency he will grab power anyway.

  3. A threat to Iran or to Israel?

    The same thought occurred to me.

    Israel should be safe until the day after the November election.

  8. Palestinians love sheep!!

    Yes they do and for as you can guess for a multitude of uses.

    Gene Wilder certainly knows but who else but a sheep would even look at him.

  9. The Falklands!

    Palestinians love sheep!!

    I am sure the British will declare Balfour II and cede the Falklands to Mahmoud Abu Holocaust Denier Abbas Mazen and his merry band of fun loving pranksters!!!

    Problem solved!!!!

  10. The game of sanctions

    The UNSC has approved another round of toothless sanctions against Iran. As usual, the sanctions target the long-empty bank accounts of Iranian companies related to its nuclear program, as well as barring Iran from developing nuclear-capable missiles and procuring some weapons.

    Iran’s oil infrastructure and gasoline supplies, its only soft spots, were not targeted.

  11. British government: Iran is not a part of the universe

    The UK coalition government included Israel into its program: the Brits will push for ‘peace in the Middle East,’ a respectable euphemism for crowding Jews in the Auschwitz borders.

    To sweeten the pill, the program calls for “secure and universally recognized Israel,” though Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon will not recognize the Jewish state any time soon.

    It is a pleasure to see the UK, which has only recently fought in Belize and Falklands over its imperial ambitions, so concerned about human rights of Arabs

  12. Obama to build up Hezbollah

    According to Obama’s assistant for counterterrorism, the administration urgently seeks ‘moderates’ in Hezbollah’s ranks to support them against radicals.

    It is really sad that such sheer stupidity prevails at the highest levels of the American counterterrorism establishment. In Hezbollah, there are no moderates or factions: the group in its current form is an arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The moderates—if there were any—would promptly be dispatched to paradise by their less humane brethren. Besides, Obama’s officials are not supposed to speak publicly about their most secret contacts with terrorist organizations.