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Fifth Column
U.S. sends warships near Israel in case evacuation needed - CNN
2012-11-20
By Barbara Starr

Three U.S. Navy amphibious warships are returning to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby in the event they are needed to assist Americans leaving Israel in the coming days, according to two U.S. officials.

The officials stressed an evacuation remains an extremely remote possibility and the Obama administration is not currently planning for one. Americans who wish to leave the region now are able to do so using commercial airlines.

But the decision to send the ships even if the event is such a remote contingency underscores the growing concern about where the Israel-Gaza conflict could be headed.

"This is due diligence. It is better to be prepared should there be a need," one official said Monday. Both officials said the ships would be used only for assisting Americans and not for any combat role.

The most immediate impact will be on the ships' crews and the estimated 2,500 Marines on board. They had been scheduled to return to Norfolk, Virginia, just after Thanksgiving; their homecoming will now be delayed several days depending on events, the officials said.

The ships involved are the USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall. At the end of last week the ships were west of Gibraltar, before the decision was made to turn them around and send them back to the eastern Mediterranean, where they will remain for now.

Posted by:Water Modem

#21  "Palestine has never existed."

Of course Palestine existed - for centuries (and still exists). As a Jewish homeland.

The paleos occupying Gaza right now are ARABS - who have misappropriated the word for propaganda purposes. (I think this was done in the 1970's; they certainly didn't call themselves that in 1948.)

"they are mongrels. And therefore they don't have the rights of a thoroughbred."

And you're a pig. Begone. >:-(

Posted by: Barbara   2012-11-20 20:58  

#20  Christianity is a religion, not a race. It transcends race.
And the concept of racial purity is hopelessly obsolete.
Posted by: Glenmore   2012-11-20 20:34  

#19  Barbara,

Christians = Palestinians.

Bethlehem is Israel, Palestine has never existed. I don't care what claims they make to Jerusalem along with the muslims. Its Jewish.

The Palestinian Christians claim that they are descended from Jews. WRONG. They are not racially pure, they are mongrels. And therefore they don't have the rights of a thoroughbred. Fact.
Posted by: Blossom Thinerong6539   2012-11-20 18:56  

#18  I'm presuming BT is an idiot troll - Israel does NOT hate Christians (though I suspect Bambi in fact does).

Unfortunately for Israel, they don't even hate Arabs.
Posted by: Barbara   2012-11-20 18:49  

#17  Obama loves Israel, because he too hates Christians.
Posted by: Blossom Thinerong6539   2012-11-20 18:43  

#16  Or Myanmar.
Posted by: Charles   2012-11-20 18:36  

#15  Might wanna send them down to, I dunno, Libya, maybe?
Posted by: tu3031   2012-11-20 17:49  

#14  Well, Besoeker, I hear Gaza real estate market is really moving nowadays.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2012-11-20 15:21  

#13  He's all yours g(r)om! I'll even throw in FLOTUS and the kids. How soon will their quarters vila be ready ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-11-20 15:11  

#12  WM, actually O been pretty OK for Israel---better than his predecessor the Nation builder.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2012-11-20 15:02  

#11  Or maybe evacuated to Atlantis.
Posted by: Glenmore   2012-11-20 13:46  

#10  I dunno, EU. Maybe the Gazooks should be evacuated - to Egypt.
Posted by: Barbara   2012-11-20 13:02  

#9  Let's just hope they don't end up getting convinced to evacuate Gazooks. Let the Iranians evacuate them.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2012-11-20 11:37  

#8  I was saddened the day AFRC Chiemsee closed EC. Having dinner in the old dining hall, what a treat.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-11-20 10:52  

#7  But no fireworks there
Posted by: European Conservatives   2012-11-20 10:42  

#6  If it's all the same to you EC, I'll take a week in August on your Ammersee.
Posted by: Besoeker   2012-11-20 08:13  

#5  Sounds like this is a nice time for a vacation in Israel. There are real dangers in Israel though. Taxi drivers for instance.
Posted by: European Conservatives   2012-11-20 08:06  

#4  They used a couple of those catamaran transports to get people out of Lebanon when that happened.

Is this supposed to be some sort of inept threat?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2012-11-20 07:57  

#3  Sorry about the poor timing and geography Messers Stevens, Smith, Doherty and Woods. Apparently the administration does still know how to execute a non-combatant evacuation (NEO)....even when no one is begging and screaming for one.

Stupid me.... I thought the administration only used church buses to shore up the voting base.

Posted by: Besoeker   2012-11-20 06:11  

#2  g(r)omgoru - convince your coreligionists in Florida, NY, NJ and Penn to quit voting for people with a middle name of Hussein - even if they are from the party of Judah P Benjamin. (google him)
Posted by: Water Modem   2012-11-20 02:03  

#1  Jerks
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2012-11-20 00:57  

00:00