Thread: Meet (And Follow) The US Naval Forces Breathing Down Syria's Neck

Meet (And Follow) The US Naval Forces Breathing Down Syria's Neck

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 08/27/2013 11:06 -0400

• Afghanistan
• Cohen
• Robert Gates

With a US attack on Syria now seemingly inevitable, it is useful to get familiar (and in some cases follow in real time using their "social networking" sites) the US Naval forces amassing around Syria, ready to deliver either a lethal payload of Tomahawk cruise missiles (carried by the four destroyers listed below), a deployment of marines (located in the USS Kearsarge big-deck amphibious warfare ship), or one or more squadrons of airplanes sitting on the deck of the Truman and Nimitz aircraft carriers.
As a reminder, here is how the core naval forces look like currently in the region (next update due tomorrow).




And here are the various "social media" and other pages of the US naval force:

• Aircraft Carriers

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75)
USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75) is the eighth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, named after the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman. The ship's callsign is Lone Warrior, and she is currently homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia.
Harry S. Truman was launched on 14 September 1996 by Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia, and commissioned on 18 July 1998 with Captain Thomas Otterbein in command. President Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker, and other notable attendees and speakers included Missouri Representative Ike Skelton, Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan, Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton.
Harry S. Truman was initially the flagship of Carrier Group Two and, beginning 1 October 2004, of Carrier Strike Group Ten.
Beginning in 2001, the Harry S. Truman Carrier Battle Group participated in Operation Joint Endeavor, Operation Deny Flight, Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Summer Pulse '04, and NATO Operation Medshark/Majestic Eagle '04.

FB page:


USS Nimitz (CVN-6
USS Nimitz (CVN-6 is a supercarrier of the United States Navy, and is the lead ship of her class. She is one of the largest warships in the world. She was laid down, launched and commissioned as CVAN-68 but she was redesignated CVN 68 (nuclear-powered multimission aircraft carrier) on 30 June 1975 as part of the fleet realignment.
The ship was named for World War II Pacific fleet commander Chester W. Nimitz, who was the navy’s third fleet admiral. Unlike all of the subsequent Nimitz class aircraft carriers, Nimitz only uses her namesake's surname as is common for naval officers. She is also the first carrier of her class and the most recent supercarrier in service not to be named for someone who held elected office in the United States.
Nimitz had her homeport at Naval Station Norfolk until 1987, when she was relocated to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Following her Refueling and Complex Overhaul in 2001, her homeport was changed to NAS North Island in San Diego, California. The home port of Nimitz was again moved to Everett, Washington, in 2012. This move is expected to save the Navy $100 million.

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• Big-Deck Amphibious Warfare Ship

USS Kearsarge (LHD-3)
USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) is the third Wasp-class amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy. She is the fifth ship to be named (the fourth actually commissioned) in honor of the USS Kearsarge, a sloop-of-war that gained fame during the American Civil War, which was in turn named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire.
On 2 March 2011, Kearsarge, along with USS Ponce (LPD-15), traveled through the Suez Canal in response to the 2011 Libyan civil war. Robert Gates had said days earlier that he ordered the two warships into the Mediterranean, along with an extra 400 Marines, in case they are needed to evacuate civilians or provide humanitarian relief. As of 20 March, AV-8B Harrier II attack aircraft from the Kearsarge have been reported attacking Libyan targets as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn. On 22 March, V-22 Ospreys from the Kearsarge conducted a successful CSAR operation to recover the crew of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle after it crashed in Libya due to a mechanical failure during a combat mission. The Daily Telegraph reported a military source as stating that during the rescue strafing runs were carried out and two Harriers dropped two 500 lb bombs on a convoy of Libyan vehicles, with other reports alleging that Libyan civilians were wounded in the operation. The ship returned to home port at Norfolk on 16 May 2011.
Following a three day delay due to weather, Kearsarge deployed from Naval Station Norfolk on March 11, 2013 for a scheduled eight month deployment. One of her first port visits was to cash-strapped Cyprus. The Kearsarge later docked at the Israeli port of Eilat for several days beginning May 14, 2013 before continuing her deployment

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• Destroyers (each equipped with Tomahawk Cruise Missiles):

USS Barry (DDG-52)
USS Barry (DDG-52) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, commissioned in 1992. Barry is the fourth United States Navy ship named after the "Father of the American Navy", Commodore John Barry (1745–1803). Barry is homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia. Several improvements over Arleigh Burke exist on this ship and all following Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. They include the ability to refuel a helicopter and several other small improvements.
Barry has received many awards, including the Battenberg Cup for the years 1994, 1996, and 1998—making Barry one of only three ships (as of 200 to have won the prestigious award three times, and the only Aegis destroyer to have won the award thus far—earning her the nickname "Battenberg Barry" in the late 1990s. She has also been awarded the Battle E award 4 times, and received the Golden Anchor and Silver Anchor Awards for retention. More recently, in 2004 the Barry received the Arleigh Burke Fleet Trophy for being the most improved ship in the Atlantic Fleet.

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USS Ramage (DDG-61)
USS Ramage (DDG-61) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. The ship is named for Vice Admiral Lawson P. Ramage, a notable submarine commander and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II.
Ramage was laid down 4 January 1993 at the Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, launched 11 February 1994, sponsored by Barbara Ramage (wife of the admiral), and commissioned 22 July 1995.
On August 8, 2013, Ramage departed for an eight month deployment into the US Navy 6th Fleet area of responsibility to assist with ballistic missile defense. Its last deployment was from May, 2012 to January, 2013[4][5]
The USS Ramage entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea as a response to the Syrian civil war. It was specifically deployed after allegations that President Bashar al-Assad's regime had used chemical weapons on its own people in suburbs of Damascus. The Navy destroyer USS Ramage has arrived in the region, a defense official said late Friday 23rd August 2013. It was intended to replace the USS Mahan, but the Mahan will remain temporarily along with the USS Gravelly and USS Barry. All four are equipped with cruise missiles.

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USS Gravely (DDG-107)
USS Gravely (DDG-107) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named after Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely, Jr.
Gravely is the 57th destroyer in her class. She was authorized on 13 September 2002 and her keel was laid down on 26 November 2007 at Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding's Ingalls Shipbuilding shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Gravely was launched on 30 March 2009.She successfully completed sea trial in June 2010.
Gravely was commissioned at Wilmington, North Carolina on 20 November 2010 under the command of Commander Douglas Kunzman. She is currently part of Carrier Strike Group Two. In late August 2013 along with her sister ships USS Mahan (DDG-72) USS Barry (DDG-52), and USS Ramage (DDG-61), Gravely was sent to patrol the eastern Mediterranean Sea in response to rising rumors of an imminent military intervention in the Syrian civil war.

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USS Mahan (DDG-72)
USS Mahan (DDG-72) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer currently in service with the United States Navy


Summarizing the destroyer's capabilities:



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-0...wn-syrias-neck

Syria on the Eve of Destruction: America, Russia, China and WWIII- Part One

The stage is set, the pieces are in place, all somebody has to do is pull the trigger. The question is who will be the first to jump, and who will be the first to blink? If no one blinks, and I don’t think they will, the world is on a collision course with World War III. As usual, it is the same “Big 3″ at the forefront of this rapidly developing emergency; America, Russia, and China. Unfortunately, it looks like America, under the incompetent leadership of Barack Obama, may be the first to make a move in this crisis, with the situation in Syria being the catalyst. However, this is not all of America’s responsibility, or fault, so we are going to take an in-depth, but as concise is as possible look back in history, all the way to the present, as well as at the prophetic Scriptures of the Holy Bible and the predictions of Nostradamus.

America, Russia, and China have been aligned to bump heads for a long time. This is nothing new. But, we are going to look at the reasons why we are here, why we need to take this very seriously, and to remember one very important thing: WE ARE ALL AMERICANS. Soon, it will not matter if you are a Liberal or a Conservative, Democrat or Republican, or a Believer or a Non-Believer. We are very possibly on the brink of the fight of our lives and generation. In order to survive, we are going to have to do what we always do, and band together to fight a common enemy. We also have to remember, that regardless of what the foolish Obama Administration drags us into, that Obama will not be the POTUS in a little over two years. Even if we are in the middle of WWIII, he will not be allowed to be re-elected, even under emergency powers. We will have to clean up the mess he has made, and right or wrong, fight our way out through to the other side and save our country. Let’s take a look at why this is happening.

WORLD WAR I-

As for the political aspects of this situation, I am only going to reach as far back as WWI and the turn of the 20th century to show how we have come to be wrapped up in this conflict (s) in the present day. Remember, Syria is just the tipping point, not truly the cause. Observe.

Through WWI and WWII, you will see an interesting pattern emerge. I am going to try to keep this from being purely a history lesson, but in order to understand, you have to know the general and full history around the two great wars. Often, the only focus you will hear or see on WWI and WWII is the aggression of Germany, the heroism of America and the Allies, and the Holocaust that the Jews suffered. While these are all important components of the two World Wars and not to be disregarded, they are only parts of it. The circumstances and world-shaping that occurred from both of these wars has much more to them. I will touch on them here. I want you to keep in mind, also, that every war, every single one of them after WWII, has been nothing but proxy wars between America, Russia, and China. Remember this, too: The Cold War never ended, we just re-named it after political and geographical shifts. The players are still the same, only the name has changed. You will hear many familiar names and nations in this article that we have heard about in history for the last 100 years. There is more than ideology at work here. There is also money, old agreements, politics, and spiritual warfare at play. Whether those that wield the power of the sword, purse, or pen realize it, this is a much more epic and divine struggle than they, or even you and I understand.

WWI started on July 28th, 1914. The original nations in alliance were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire on one side, and Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other. Originally, Italy had been allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary (or what is known as the Central Powers and will be referred to as such from this point on), but had broken with the “Triple Alliance” as Austria-Hungary took the lead on the offensive of the war’s start, which was against the terms of the “Triple Alliance” agreement that Italy had made with the Central Powers. The alliances on both sides changed and shifted during the course of the war as more world players got involved. Ironically, Italy, Japan, and America joined the Allies (Britain, France, Russia) and the Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey, but a multinational, multilingual empire, controlling much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia and North Africa then, and Muslim,Syria was also part of the Ottoman Empire) and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary). Thus, the alliances were set, and four years of war commenced through November 11th, 1918. Again, ironically, China entered WWI late in 1917 after they formerly protested Germany’s sub attacks against vessels not involved in the war on February 4th, 1917, threatening to sever diplomatic ties immediately if it did not stop. Germany responded almost immediately by torpedoeing the French ship Atlas in the Mediterranean on which were over seven hundred Chinese laborers were on board. But, what caused the war in the first place?

There were many reasons and causes that led to WWI, but one of the most discussed, and publicly pushed reasons for the war, was the feeling by the Allies that the Central Powers and much of Europe were engaging in a new wave of imperialism and the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria,“…the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, on 28 June 1914 by the Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo triggered a diplomatic crisis when Austria-Hungary subsequently delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Several alliances formed over the previous decades were invoked. Within weeks, the major powers were at war and, via their colonies, the conflict soon spread around the world.”
Serbia, there is a familiar name.

On July 28th, 1914, Austria-Hungary fired the first shots in WWI while beginning the invasion of Serbia. The Russian Empire of the Allies mobilized to ready and prepare against aggression from the Central Powers, and Germany invaded Belgium and Luxembourg, who were neutral, on the road to France, and in turn, Britain then declared war on Germany. Germany was stopped on their march on Paris, and the fabled front lines of the trench warfare that was infamous in WWI ensued, with the battle lines ebbing and flowing until the end of the war on the Western Front. On the Eastern Front, Russia was defeating Austria-Hungary, but was stopped in their advance on East Prussia by the Germans. In November of 1914, the Ottoman Empire (Turkish Empire) joined the war, opening up fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia (Modern Iraq) and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy (now with the Allies) went to war with Bulgaria of the Central Powers, and Romania declared war on the Central Powers the same year.

Later, in October of 1917, the Bolshevik Communists started a revolution in the Russian Empire, and by November of 1917, the Tsars of the Russian Empire were overthrown, dead, and the Communists Bolsheviks were on their way to forming the Soviet Union. They also signed a treaty with the Central Powers, and hostilities from Russia against the Central Powers were struck, and Russia was officially out of the war.

In 1918, the Germans launched an offensive on the Western Front and were beaten back in several counter-offensives by the Allies and American forces started pouring into the trenches to finish the Germans off. Germany was having internal domestic problems of their own as the fascist Nazi Party was starting to take form. Germany agreed to an armistice on November 11th, 1918, and the war was over. Four world super-powers no longer existed after the war that had prior: the German Empire, the Russian Empire, the Austria-Hungary Empire, and the Ottoman Empire were no more. There is always a vacuum when things that big fall apart.

BETWEEN WWI AND WWII: 21 YEARS-

While Germany and Russia still existed as nations, they were in ruin economically and psychologically, and both lost huge amounts of territory from their defeat. The Austria-Hungary Empire and the Ottoman Empire were dismantled entirely. The map of central Europe was redrawn into several smaller nations. The League of Nations (predecessor to NATO and the United Nations) was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. However, European nationalism spawned by the war, weak new nations, and the humiliation of Germany’s defeat were factors contributing to the rise of the Nazis and the start of World War II.

Syrian “Rebels”

Stay tuned for “Syria on the Eve of Destruction: America, Russia, China and WWIII- Parts 2, 3, and 4 coming this evening and tomorrow. In order to understand what is about to happen in Syria and the world, we have to understand where and how this truly started. Remember, Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire, Syria was the first place that an organized Christian church was established, and also where Paul the Apostle was struck down on the road to Damascus by God, making him the living example of Christ’s power to change a person and the world.There is so much to this we understand, and so much that we don’t. Keep your eyes open. The next installment is coming soon.

Ezekiel the Prophet, prophesying the Word of the Lord-
Ezekiel 39

New International Version (NIV)

39 “Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of[a] Meshek and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel.3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. 4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. 5 You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am theLord.
7 “‘I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel. 8 It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. This is the day I have spoken of.
9 “‘Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. 10 They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the SovereignLord.
11 “‘On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east of the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buriedthere. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.[b]
12 “‘For seven months the Israelites will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I display my glory will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign Lord. 14 People will be continually employed in cleansing the land. They will spread out across the land and, along with others, they will bury any bodies that are lying on the ground.
“‘After the seven months they will carry out a more detailed search. 15 As they go through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will leave a marker beside it until the gravediggers bury it in the Valley of Hamon Gog, 16 near a town called Hamonah.[c] And so they will cleanse the land.’
17 “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls—all of them fattened animals from Bashan. 19 At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. 20 At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.
21 “I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay on them. 22 From that day forward the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.
25 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob[d]and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. 26 They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will be proved holy through them in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 29 I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

God Bless you.
Daniel P. O’Rourke

Related articles

• Could Syria Spark WWIII? (papundits.wordpress.com)
• World War I Fast Facts (wyff4.com)
• World War I Fast Facts (cnn.com)
• World War I Fast Facts (wdsu.com)

http://christianpatriotsunited.com/2...-wwiii-part-1/