USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier arrives off Syrian shore

DEBKAfile Special Report December 5, 2012,

The USS Eisenhower Strike Group transited the Suez Canal from the Persian Gulf Saturday, Dec. 1, sailing up to the Syrian coast Tuesday in a heavy storm, with 8 fighter bomber squadrons of Air Wing Seven on its decks and 8,000 sailors, airmen and Marines.

The USS Eisenhower group joins the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group which carries 2,500 Marines.

Facing Syria now are 10,000 US fighting men, 70 fighter-bombers and at least 17 warships, including the three Iwo Jima amphibious craft, a guided missile cruiser and 10 destroyers and frigates.

Four of these vessels are armed with Aegis missile interceptors.

This mighty US armada brings immense pressure to bear on the beleaguered Assad regime after it survived an almost two-year buffeting by an armed uprising. Its presence indicates that the United States now stands ready for direct military intervention in the Syrian conflict when the weather permits.

Left behind in the Persian Gulf is just one US aircraft carrier, the USS Stennis and its strike group.

Welcoming NATO’s decision Tuesday, Dec. 4, to deploy Patriot missile batteries in Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Wednesday: “The protection from NATO will be three dimensional; one is the short-range Patriots, the second is the middle-range Terminal High Altitude Air Defense [THAD] system and the last is the AEGIS system, which counters missiles that can reach outside the atmosphere.”

debkafile’s military sources: While the Patriot is land-based and will be deployed on the Turkish-Syrian border, the THAD and the Aegis have just reached the Syrian coast aboard the USS Eisenhower strike group.

“With this integrated system,” said Davutoglu, Turkey will have maximum protection.”
He added: “The Syrian regime has 700 missiles,” and their location, storage method and holders are no secret to Ankara. This was the first time Ankara had made threats to destroy Syrian missiles, including any carrying chemical warheads.

December 5, 2012 | 35 Comments »

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35 Comments / 35 Comments

  1. @ yamit82:

    “My legitimacy does not hang suspended in space or time, in gasping, desperate need your of ‘acknowledgment’; like Israel’s, MY legitimacy is self-existent.”

    “A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.”

    What I said about my legitimacy wasn’t ‘flattery.’

    It was (and is) true

    — not because I said it, but because it IS true.

    The fact that it was I myself who said it — does not, of itself, render it self-flattery.

  2. @ yamit82:

    “Right, Max, I don’t exist”

    “First honest thing you’ve ever said on Israpundit.”

    Invest in a good dictionary, shmendrick, and look up “irony.”

    Your problem, Yamit, is that since you are yourself fundamentally dis-honest (and you are), you have no interior Template by which to judge what is or isn’t ‘honest.’

    Hence, you wouldn’t RECOGNIZE honesty if it looked you in the eye & bit you on the nose.

    The Truth is that everything I’ve said is honest

    including the observation that “Max is gulling us.”

    And the “us” includes you, boychik.

    It’s just a matter of time. . . .

  3. @ dweller:
    “A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.”

    My legitimacy does not hang suspended in space or time, in gasping, desperate need your of “acknowledgment”; like Israel’s, MY legitimacy is self-existent.

    “A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.”

    — but with EQUAL certainty, it is not YoursEverTruly.

    "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt".

    And in time, everybody on this site is going to know — as well as I do — just who it IS.

    “To be a man’s own fool is bad enough, but the vain man is everybody’s”.

  4. @ the phoenix:

    Hmfp yeah Fransceso…

    Well, in any case, I never said the US was an ‘ally’ of Israel. That’s irrelevant. That’s like the example I gave of the mental patient examining the cracks in the street for ‘truth’ while he gets run over.

    Israel alone or about 13 million Jews worldwide in a world with 1.5 billion oil rich Islamics is not a working proposition – just a memory hole.

    You have work with the world as it is, not with the world that isn’t.

    .

  5. the phoenix Said:

    i am not hiding my disdain for the USA beginning with FDR (may he rot in hell!)and the st. Louis…
    the more history that i am reading, the more entrenched i become in my beliefs (not in a hysterical way, but factual)that they (all non Jews) are ALL out to get us, with few exceptions here and there….
    but for all intents and purposes…we’re on our own.

    No link there.
    Well there it is – your disdain. I din’t say anyone had to like the US and I didn’t endorse Obama’s dysfunction MB etc policies. Yeah the Americans want to affect the situation in their favour, but the balance sheet without them is and would have been no Israel.
    No American intervention is is suicide for the West and Israel. The military survival interests co-incide – it’s just necessary.

    Survive first – dance on FDR’s grave later.

  6. dweller Said:

    @ Honey Bee:
    “True that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know how you love my exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
    Well, they do serve nicely to separate your thoughts; keeps ‘em from running together
    — kind of like a “spacer” in an engine or transmission.
    “Once in a while Dweller makes an intelligent statement ,but he is no Yamit”
    As long as Yamit’s talking troop movements, military procurements, etc, I rarely find much to quarrel with him over.
    — In fact, quite the contrary, in THOSE departments, I’ve always found him to be a treasure-trove of usually quite reliable info.

    The point do help organize thoughts!!!!!!!!!! You should try it.

    It’s when he gets into other stuff that the picture changes. . . .

  7. @ Max:

    “There is no ‘dweller’…”

    Right, Max, I don’t exist

    — except in your hypercaffeinated fantasies.

    “[T]hat troll has lost all legitimacy for me or anyone to bother acknowledging him.”

    My legitimacy does not hang suspended in space or time, in gasping, desperate need your of “acknowledgment”; like Israel’s, MY legitimacy is self-existent.

    Moreover, there most surely IS a troll on-board here

    — but with EQUAL certainty, it is not YoursEverTruly.

    And in time, everybody on this site is going to know — as well as I do — just who it IS.

  8. @ Max:

    “Why does Israel stop every time it is about to eliminate the Hamas or the Hezbollah .. because of the phone call from the US and because they need the US to exist.”

    No, because of the phone call from the US, and because the GOI leadership needs the US to maintain the level of comfort to which it has become accustomed.

    Some people identify that with “Israel’s existence.”

    — Some don’t.

    “Most US aid comes with strings”

    “You acknowledge it yourself, so you actually agree with me.”

    ‘Acknowledge’ what? I don’t acknowledge OR ‘agree’ that “there wouldn’t be an Israel” if not for US aid & intervention. That simply isn’t so.

    “[T]hat ‘aid’ military support and technology and the UN, veto comes and without it Israel would be Kaput.”

    Poppycock. Israel would certainly have to do some belt tightening without the aid, and — as well — some “creative” work with her existing weapons systems; but ‘kaput’? — No. Not hardly.

    Israel loses USA aid, and she becomes then free to contract with anybody she damned pleases. Think about it.

    Same holds for the veto. Veto goes, and The Big One comes out of the basement.

    — Translation: forget about invoking Chapter Seven, Ladies & Gents. Aint happening.

    “You must not let your emotions, your dislike of the US or whatever, or your wishful thinking interfere with you military analysis or ability to analyze military situations.”

    Oh, but I never DO let my emotions OR wishful thinking enter into these considerations. And I don’t ‘dislike’ the USA; I have healthy appreciation for the people of the country, and its form of govt.

    — I simply understand that large states have their own priorities, and they differ from small ones. Furthermore, large states are accustomed to thinking in different terms of scale & presence.

    All states have their own unique & permanent interests, which — from their perspective — always have to come first: irrespective of the friendships & affinities their peoples may share with other peoples.

    “Everyone here voted overwhelming in a poll that the Repubs would win…”

    I’m unaware of there having been any such poll.

    “…when it was obvious they wouldn’t.”

    Hogwash. It was NOT at all “obvious that they wouldn’t.”

    The momentum was clearly with the GOP candidate. Romney’s crowds were larger than Obamas’s had been in 2008, and Obama’s this time were shrinking.

    With a 4-5 percent edge in the popular vote, the BHO victory was hardly a ‘landslide’ — certainly no ‘mandate.’

    Three milllion (or more) GOP voters stayed home on Election Day (demoralized by the party’s choice of nominee), and those numbers alone would’ve come damned close to altering the outcome of the election.

    What’s more, it’s become increasingly evident that there was MASSIVE voter fraud among the Demo’s — many counties in swing states where not a single vote showed up for Romney. If you don’t smell a rat there, may I recommend a good Ear, Nose & Throat specialist?

  9. @ Max:
    dear max,
    i am certainly not a historian, but i would say that even those so called historians, have a certain slanted way of presenting events (while chosing to downplay and omit others).
    that being said, we can only rely on our common sense (and YES, bias) to separate the wheat from the chaff.

    with that as an introduction, i am providing you here with a link, which i saved from a previous forum right here in israpundit (it was yamit’s or otter’s i think …apologies if a different source)
    so anyways,
    i am not hiding my disdain for the usa beginning with fdr (may he rot in hell!)and the st. louis…
    the more history that i am reading, the more entranched i become in my beliefs (not in a hysterical way, but factual)that they (all non jews) are ALL out to get us, with few exceptions here and there….
    but for all intents and purposes…we’re on our own.
    i totally embrace yamit’s views

  10. @ the phoenix:

    Really? Who supplies Israel with technology and weaponry? If Saddam still existed and had existed totally unopposed without the two wars and without the no-fly zone and inspections etc there would be no Israel. And on and on…
    If the US had refused to involve with any Mid-east or European affairs in the past 60 years there would be no Israel.
    And sure . it’s about the oil because the more the US has control of it the less they have of it and the less wealth they have with which to use to wage war on us.

    Why does Israel stop every time it is about to eliminate the Hamas or the Hezbollah .. because of the phone call from the US and because they need the US to exist.
    ….
    “Most US aid comes with strings”

    You acknowledge it yourself, so you actually agree with me.
    The US may be controlling Israel for its own ends and calling the shots and prevent Israel from winning but that “aid” military support and technology and the UN, veto comes and without it Israel would be Kaput.

    You must not let your emotions, your dislike of the US or whatever, or your wishful thinking interfere with you military analysis or ability to analyze military situations.
    Everyone here voted overwhelming in a poll that the Repubs would win when it was obvious they wouldn’t. That’s the inability of being able to separate wishful thinking and emotional bias from practical analysis.
    Analysis just be done cold and and with a single minded purpose ie How do we win?
    Because we must win.
    ….

    “scottdnok” is obviously a leftist and he used leftist sneaky-deek propaganda tools:
    IE I’m on ‘your side” but here’s how I slip the knife in you, and secondly he is one of those anti-war no-intervention wingnuts because he is arguing against all military intervention. and thirdly he is trying to use anti-Obama sentiment to reinforce that which is another propaganda manipulation.

    If it is just Israel against Islam all by itself, Israel will not survive and it would not have survived and Islam certainly will. If the West does not come on board and get down to the business of waging war and waging it more effectively we are all finished. Like I said they have ‘conflicting interests’ – that inner conflict must be resolved in favour of total elimination of the enemy. There will be only one side standing at the end – there is no such thing as peaceful co-existence.

    ..
    There is no ‘dweller’ that troll has lost all legitimacy for me or anyone to bother acknowledging him. This kind of troll if you acknowledge them in any respect they will attack you for anything at all you write in response, no matter what it is. You must recognize ‘intent’ – he has the intent to be disruptive.
    He’s much like a schizophrenic with a fragmented psyche picking at the cracks in the street while the traffic runs him over. Don’t bother referencing him just reply to me directly.

  11. @ Honey Bee:

    “True that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know how you love my exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

    Well, they do serve nicely to separate your thoughts; keeps ’em from running together

    — kind of like a “spacer” in an engine or transmission.

    “Once in a while Dweller makes an intelligent statement ,but he is no Yamit”

    As long as Yamit’s talking troop movements, military procurements, etc, I rarely find much to quarrel with him over.

    — In fact, quite the contrary, in THOSE departments, I’ve always found him to be a treasure-trove of usually quite reliable info.

    It’s when he gets into other stuff that the picture changes. . . .

  12. @ Max:
    Kiss what, you have already kissed your own backside and left nothing for the the rest of us.!!!!!!!!!!!

    @ dweller:
    True that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know how you love my exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@ the phoenix:
    Once and while Dweller makes an intelligent statement ,but he is no Yamit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  13. @ Max:
    Max Said:

    the truth is if it wasn’t for US aid and intervention there wouldn’t be an Israel

    max, you surprise me now…
    actually, i agree with dweller on this one…

  14. @ Max:

    “[I]f it wasn’t for US aid and intervention there wouldn’t be an Israel.”

    That’s popular mythology.

    Most US intervention has been counter to Israeli interests, not in support of.

    And when it does buttress Israeli interests, it invariably becomes a bargaining chip to use as justification for subsequent intervention against Israel.

    Most US aid comes with strings which just assure that Israel doesn’t develop the weapons systems needed to make herself genuinely independent.

  15. scottdnok Said:

    I agree with you to a point Max

    Don’t kiss me unless you mean it.
    Yeah sure we can all stick our heads in the ground and wait for them to finish us off. The West has got to stay and finish the job in every country. The only thing wrong with military intervention is there hasn’t been enough of it. You sound like a leftie.
    Despite the fact that US has conflicting ambitions the truth is if it wasn’t for US aid and intervention there wouldn’t be an Israel.

    Methane won’t buy anyone out of this one, Only blood will do it.

  16. @ Max: I agree with you to a point Max. But I also think that Barry-O is also liking the unintended consequences of his anti-energy policy: U.S. well on way to #1 energy producer (he hs little respect for market forces). Gives him perceived leverage with the oil arabs and their toadies. The kind he may think would forgive any military intervention. Don’t do it Barry! U.S. medeling in the area always spells trouble for Israel. p.s. Anyone have an update on Israel’s methane extraction?

  17. The USS Eisenhower may well be put into action if, as Obama warned Assad, Syria’s dictator uses his chemical WMDs on ‘his own people’. But what if, God forbid, those missiles with their poisonous, destructive cargoes are meant for Israel, which is not full of Assad’s ‘own people’ but with his enemy, the Israeli people?
    That is the question…! Gas masks ready, everyone !!

  18. C.R. Said:

    It seems Barack Obama wants to pull another Egypt in Syria.

    Another war to save muslims? Let them kil each other,and reduce their own numbers. Stonewall Jackson,”shoot them all and let G-d sort them out”.

  19. birdalone Said:

    Too bad we might never know if any of Assad’s chem weapons are labeled “Made in Iraq”

    Actually, we now have a very good chance of knowing.

    —>
    Headlines:

    “Lebanon: Tal Kalakh Ambush Rocks Tripoli”
    “Lebanon’s Tripoli rocked by 2nd day of violence”

    I feel so sad and afraid that Lebanon will descend into Civil War.

    NOT!
    Ha! Ha! Islamofascists can’t survive without someone to wage Jihad against. It’s good!

    More! More! Please ascend into civil war , there’s lots of Jihad martyrdom to be had, and please take Hezbollah into it.

    If we could only feed them each other til they are all extinct.

  20. so, who has submarines off the coast of Syria?

    The USS Eisenhower carrier group includes the USS Winston S. Churchill, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer. and the USS Cole.
    The Marines are on the USS Iwo Jima, the USS Gunston Hall, and the USS New York, which was made from steel recovered from the WTC.

    Too bad we might never know if any of Assad’s chem weapons are labelled “Made in Iraq”

  21. @ C.R.:

    People are so blinded by Obama hate they don’t understand what is happening. No matter what agenda Obama has this is a good training event for the US Military. It’s the fall of a Islamist terrorist state with W M D – a unique event and a learning lesson for taking out similar states such as Iran and North Korea.
    As well as all the other side benefits here in the Sunni-Shite divide.

    We won both Iraq wars (not the Iraq Occupation) so easily because of the air power and military lessons learned in Vietnam. Conflict makes us stronger.


    You rabble rousing of Obama hate actually works against Western military and cultural interests.
    That’s using our weaknesses against us.
    IS that what you want?

  22. (Sec-ond Part)

    It’s not bl-ack and wh-ite with Tur-key and every-thing is a trade with them – it puts Am-erican in-fluence and Am-erican per-sonn-el in Tur-key.

    As well the mis-sile system is on lo-an.

  23. To ‘dean’

    (First Part)

    I think that’s a litt-le off.

    The three t.i.e.r a.i.r d.e.f.e.n.s.e system is ab-solutely needed because the sit-uation is very dang-erous and W M D crazy.

  24. @ Dean:
    I have to break up my comment – a single unknown word is causing the robo-censor to send it to oblivion.

    People need to be more realistic about Obama. As s.c.u.m.m.y as he is, he is not in total control of America’s military and military direction direction. Like every other President l.e.f.t.i.s.t or otherwise he gets read the ‘Reality Act’ (ie the reality of world-wide necessities for the defense of American Interests) by the Generals and military in charge of America’s security. Despite Obama has the wrong world strategic direction or that he is sapping at Western values and Western way of life Obama can’t order the military suicide of America or American Strategic interests unless maybe there is a p.u..t.s.c.h.

    Stop being h.y.s.t.e.r.i.c.a.l., It’s ‘E Pluribus Unum’ There are many forces in America. O.b.a.m.a. is not America – if he was Israel would be d.e.a.d already.

  25. @ Dean:

    The right thing’s being done and maybe too little, too late. There is a lot of pluses in this Syria thing for the West. You get a card in the deck , you get a hand in the game.
    As far as Assad using WMD or anyone else using them or going for them , like the saying goes “Make our Day”!

    Bad for the locals, very good for us. Satisfying even.

  26. @ Dean:

    Turkey will get whatever it wants because Obama is an Islamophile.

    I wish I knew how to post “islamophile” crossed out followed by “a musloid. FIFY”
    but surely you catch my drift dean 🙂

  27. “With this integrated system,” said Davutoglu, Turkey will have maximum protection.”

    The defenses provided to Turkey by NATO and the USA will one day be deployed against Israel. They are arming another Islamist regime to the teeth and, because Turkey is becoming more hard core Islamist, it will naturally be an enemy to Israel, an enemy to western values and an enemy to freedom. Of course, as a best friend to Obama, Turkey will get whatever it wants because Obama is an Islamophile.