Steve Wright <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
U.S. to cut Gulf force to one aircraft carrier
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans at least temporarily to cut
its major naval force in the Gulf from two aircraft carriers to one
beginning in late May, defense officials said Wednesday.
But the Pentagon stressed that even if the force was cut to one carrier from
late May until perhaps late June, PresidentClinton had made no final
decision on whether to reduce permanently a big U.S. military force gathered
near Iraq since last November.
The carrier Independence, stationed in the Gulf with the carrier John
Stennis, is scheduled to leave the area for the United States in late May.
Defense officials, who asked not to be identified, said those plans were
unchanged.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that Clinton had decided that the aircraft
carrier Eisenhower, currently scheduled to replace the Independence, would
not leave Norfolk, Virginia, until June 10, as already scheduled. The
Eisenhower would not reach the Gulf until late June.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told Reuters that the plans could change
despite current Iraqi compliance with U.N. arms inspections. "The president
has made no final decision regarding force level adjustments in the Arabian
Gulf region," he said.
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Lifes a beach and I'm on it, Jah Wobble.
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