Thread: The Four Decommissioned U.S. Aircraft Carriers Are

Three US Aircraft Carriers Now In The Middle East With Fourth En Route


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/18/2012 19:43 -0400

• Afghanistan
• Ben Bernanke
• Iran
• Iraq
• Middle East

A week ago we reported news that Middle East veteran aircraft carrier CVN-74 Stennis was ending its brief sabbatical prematurely, and far earlier than previously expected, and heading right back into the field, er sea, of action. As Kitsapsun reported, "Bremerton-based aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis is returning to the Middle East much sooner than expected.

The Navy hasn't officially announced the new deployment plan for the Stennis, said spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Zach Harrell." The ship came home to Naval Base Kitsap on March 2 after seven months of launching planes into Iraq and Afghanistan. Generally, it wouldn't go back to the Fifth Fleet area of responsibility for four to five years, after a deployment to the Western Pacific and a maintenance period.

But with Iran making threats, crew members learned Saturday they'll be leaving again in late August for eight months." We concluded that shortly, Stennis will be the third carrier accompanying Lincoln and Enterprise. As it turns out, a third carrier was already en route, and as of today, CVN 69 Eisenhower is either at the opening of the Straits of Hormuz, or just past it.

That makes 3 aircraft carriers in the middle east, 2 in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea and one just off the coast of Syria. And technically, the LHD 7 Iwo Jima Big Deck Amphibious ship, which is also just off the coast of Iran region, makes three and a half. Which means that a 5th one (rounded up) - Stennis - is coming in 1-2 months. Good luck Iran.


Source: Stratfor

So to recap: Four US aircraft carriers. One big deck amphibious warfare ship. One Iran. WTI well below its 2012 highs even with Bernanke having engaged in yet another flow-boosting Qualitative Easing operation. And One presidential election in 4 months.

Three US Aircraft Carriers Now In The Middle East With Fourth En Route | ZeroHedge

The Asian-American Arms Race In Charts


Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/18/2012 18:43 -0400

• China

"Asia is a study in contrasts. It is home to economic freedom and political liberty; it is also home to political instability and tyranny. Some of Asia’s borders are unsettled and volatile. And military budgets and capabilities are expanding, sometimes faster than economic growth. The rise of China as a great power presents both sides of this equation. It is being watched carefully by all the countries of the region. It is the U.S. that is recognized as the catalyst in ensuring a prosperous peace over conflict. America is a Pacific power. That much is a matter of geography and history. But the facts – and America’s principles and interests – demand more than resignation to geography. They call for continued American leadership, commitment, and the predominant comprehensive power that has enabled Asia’s very welcomed, opportunity-laden rise."

Thus prefaces the Heritage Foundation its Asian 'Book of Charts', which summarizes most of the key economic, financial, trade, geopolitical, most importantly militaristic tensions both in Asia and, by dint of being the global marginal economic force, the world itself. And while we will present the complete deck shortly, of particular interest we find the summary in 7 easy charts how Asia is slowly but surely catching up on that accepted by conventional wisdom GloboCop - the United States.

We present it in its entirety below.



























The Asian-American Arms Race In Charts | ZeroHedge

bttt

Related: http://www.alipac.us/f19/report-russ...rt-two-261988/

Related: Australia Refuses To Let US Nuke Carrier Group Near Perth

Related: http://www.alipac.us/f19/u-s-agitate...orizon-262569/

'China real target for US missile shield in Asia'



Published on Aug 23, 2012 by RussiaToday

Not satisfied with its missile shield in Europe - Washington has announced plans for a similar weapons system in Asia.

A Pentagon official pointed at a perceived threat from North Korea as the main justification.

But political activist and head of the New Patriotic Alliance, Renato Reyes, says that's a paper thin excuse.

Related: http://www.alipac.us/f9/someone-obam...-nukes-264657/

North Korea Says U.S. Will Spark Nuclear War

October 3, 2012 by Sam Rolley

SCREENSHOT

A North Korean official accused American policymakers of working to spark another Korean war.

North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Pak Kil-yon told the 193-member U.N. General Assembly this week that the United States’ actions toward his country are increasing the likelihood of nuclear war.

“Due to the continued U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea], the vicious cycle of confrontation and aggravation of tension is an ongoing phenomenon on the Korean Peninsula, which has become the world’s most dangerous hotspot where a spark of fire could set off a thermonuclear war,” the diplomat said.

He continued, saying that the U.S. wants to “occupy the whole of the Korean Peninsula and to use it as a stepping-stone for realizing its strategy of dominating the whole of Asia” and accusing American policymakers of working to spark another Korean war.

“The U.S. hostile policy towards the DPRK is most deeply rooted in military field,” Pak said. “With a view to eliminating the DPRK by dint of force, the U.S. already finalized different Korean War scenarios and it is waiting for a chance to implement them.”

The criticisms come just about a month after North Korea signed an agreement with Iran, another nation isolated by American foreign policy, to collaborate in the fields of science and technology.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran and North Korea have common enemies, because the arrogant powers do not accept independent states,” Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at the time, according to Iranian media.

According to the reports, the countries will cooperate in research, student exchanges and joint laboratories. They will also share information related to information technology, engineering, biotechnology, renewable energy, the environment, sustainable development of agriculture and food technology, according to Iranian officials.

North Korea Says U.S. Will Spark Nuclear War : Personal Liberty Digest™

Back To Iraq

October 3, 2012 by Bob Livingston

OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO

BY LAWRENCE JACKSON

In August, President Barack Obama visited Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, to mark “the two-year anniversary of the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.”

President Barack Obama is having a “Mission Accomplished” moment, not that you’d know it based on coverage by the lamestream corporate media whores.

In August, Obama went to Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, on “an official trip marking the two-year anniversary of the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.” There he said: “You left Iraq with honor, your mission complete, your heads held high.”

Not so fast. Last week, The New York Times quietly reported that Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq.

This is eerily reminiscent of President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” proclamation just months into the Iraq war that then dragged on for another nine years, a fact the media and the progressive talking heads (sorry for the redundancy) mentioned at every opportunity for as long as Bush was in office.

On Dec. 15, 2011, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared the combat mission over. For Obama the mission somehow ended in August of 2010?

The truth is, the region remains a tinderbox thanks to the CIA-instigated “Arab Spring” uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Syria in which the United States used agents provocateurs and al-Qaida terrorists as instruments of regime change. And now, our military, overused and weary from perpetual war, is once again being sent back to Iraq.

The perpetual war machine hums merrily along.

Back To Iraq : Personal Liberty Digest™