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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US aircraft carrier has no plans to “intimidate Iran”
2007-02-26
ON BOARD THE USS JOHN C. STENNIS, off the coast of Pakistan - To the deafening roar of war planes taking off from the nuclear-powered US aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, US military commanders insist that intimidating Iran is not part of their mission in the region. The carrier and its battle group has been in the Gulf of Oman since February 19, anchored about 120 nautical miles off the coast of Pakistan, in what the US Navy says is a mission to provide support for ground forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I doubt they're actually 'anchored'.
The Stennis has joined the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the area, fuelling speculation that Washington could be preparing for a military strike against arch-foe Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.

But the carrier’s commanding officer Captain Bradley E. Johanson said the vessel was in the region to reassure Washington’s key oil-rich Arab allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council. “We have received very explicit guidance that we will not assume any sort of escalatory posture with Iran,” Johanson told AFP as an F/A-18F Super Hornet took off heading north in the direction of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Nope, our F-18s don't intimidate anyone. Why, I gave each plane a specific order not to do any intimidating out there," he added.
“No sort of escalatory posture at all with Iran,” Johanson reiterated. “Our mission is not to go and intimidate Iran. Our mission is to go and make the GCC partner-nations comfortable with the security situation.”

However, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in January that reinforcing the US naval presence in the oil-rich region was a message to Iran, which has defied the international community over its nuclear drive. “The nice thing about my position is I don’t have to explain what the Secretary of Defence said,” said Rear Admiral Kevin M. Quinn, commander of Carrier Strike Group Three, formed by the Stennis and its battle group. “There was no word in my tasking to come over here that had anything to do with Iran,” he told AFP.
Nor did there need to be any.
Posted by:Steve White

#15  Methinks the aircraft in the steel beach picture are conveying a secret message: After all they are (the lately retired) Tomcats: Anytime Baby!
Posted by: USN, ret.   2007-02-26 22:56  

#14  D *** nged airframes also don't like answering questionnes - ITS TREASON, THEY TELLS YA, TREASON.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-02-26 20:55  

#13  "Tis the prob wid Navy steel Bulkheads - you keep talking/demanding from them to know their intentions, they never answer you.
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-02-26 20:53  

#12  They aren't there to intimidate them . . . .
Posted by: gorb   2007-02-26 15:03  

#11  As the saying goes, I bet butter wouldn't melt in that Captain's mouth.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-02-26 13:21  

#10  What policy is that, doc?

Speak softly and carry a big JDAM?
Posted by: BA   2007-02-26 10:40  

#9  I doubt they're actually 'anchored'.

Should have said "On Station"
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2007-02-26 09:49  

#8  Of course, they have no plans to intimidate iran, it's just a cruise... sort of "Love boat" redux, actually.

Posted by: anonymous5089   2007-02-26 09:26  

#7  The Stennis has joined the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the area

Bipartisan. I hope Nan appreciates it.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2007-02-26 09:08  

#6  The Stennis has joined the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the area, fuelling speculation that Washington could be preparing for a military strike against arch-foe Iran over its controversial nuclear programme.

Let's not talk crazy. The arch-foe of the West is gingivitis.
Posted by: Excalibur   2007-02-26 08:59  

#5  I'd say W has taken a page from the book of Foreign Policy of a former President, the antithesis of Jimmy Carter.
Posted by: doc   2007-02-26 07:43  

#4  Anyway, it's been the kinder, gentler army since clinton, I'd say they're here to help and make people feel all warm and fuzzy. Kinda like Santa Claus, only with fighter jets and JDAM instead of reindeers and gifts. Ho ho ho!
Posted by: anonymous5089   2007-02-26 05:29  

#3  I would say that the real "orders" are still sealed. US objectives in Iran should be achievable by air power alone. Iranians are sick of the Arabist wannabes who plunder their economy. Persia achieved much more that Arabs ever did.
Posted by: Sneaze   2007-02-26 04:55  

#2  Mad dogs can't be intimidated---only killed.
Posted by: gromgoru   2007-02-26 02:58  

#1  Probably just there for the fishing. The patagonian toothfish is exceptionally tasty this time of year, I'm told.
Posted by: SteveS   2007-02-26 00:52  

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