U.S. sends 3rd carrier to Gulf, denies build-up
www.chinaview.cn 2007-07-11 11:30:08
Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis
A May 17, 2006 file photo shows the USS
Enterprise in the Adriatic sea, near the city of Split, Croatia. The U.S.
navy has sent a third aircraft carrier to its Fifth Fleet area of
operations, which includes Gulf waters close to Iran, the navy said on
July 10, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
BEIJING, July 11 (Xinhuanet) -- While the U.S. aircraft carrier USS
Enterprise is heading to the Gulf region, the Pentagon on Tuesday said there
is no naval build-up in the region.
Navy officials earlier raised the possibility that the USS Enterprise
would increase the number of carriers in the region to three, which would be
the biggest U.S. naval presence in the Gulf since the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said the deployment of the USS
Enterprise was a routine measure to replace one of two U.S. Navy carriers now
in the Fifth Fleet area.
"There is a scheduled swap of carriers that is part of the routine
deployment of the Enterprise," Whitman told reporters in Washington.
"Has the department made a decision for three carriers in the Gulf? No,"
he added.
The Fifth Fleet area includes the Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the
Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.
Ships currently in the region are the USS John C. Stennis and USS Nimitz,
and both are expected to leave soon. The nuclear-powered USS Enterprise left
Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia over the weekend and will replace one of the
carriers, the U.S. 5th Fleet announced Tuesday.
A Pentagon official said there was a possibility the Navy could go down to
one carrier in the region.
The USS Stennis is expected to have left the region by the time the USS
Enterprise arrives, and that the new carrier will replace the USS Nimitz,
according to defense officials.
The United States sent a second carrier to the Gulf in a much-publicized
military buildup at the start of this year. U.S. officials said that move was
designed to reassure U.S. allies concerned about Iran's increasing influence
in the region.
(Agencies)
Nimitz carrier to sail to Persian Gulf
The nuclear-powered USS Nimitz will sail Monday to
support U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Navy said, amid
a spike in tensions over Iran's seizure of 15 British marines and
sailors. (File Photo)
Photo Gallery >>>
U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz heads for Persian Gulf
WASHINGTON, March 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. aircraft carrier Nimitz and its
support ships will depart United States next Monday for the Persian Gulf to
join another aircraft carrier strike group already in that region, the
Pentagon said Friday.
The nuclear-powered carrier will join the John C. Stennis Strike Group
and relieve carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, according to a news release from the
Pentagon.
Editor: Wang Yan
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