Thousands
of US troops arrive near Syrian shore on USS Eisenhower
The
USS Eisenhower, an American aircraft carrier that holds eight fighter
bomber squadrons and 8,000 men, arrived at the Syrian coast yesterday
in the midst of a heavy storm, indicating US preparation for a
potential ground intervention.
RT,
6
December, 2012
While
the Obama administration has not announced any sort of American-led
military intervention in the war-torn country, the US is now ready to
launch such action “within days” if Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad decides to use chemical weapons against the opposition, the
Times reports.
Some
have suggested that the Assad regime may use chemical weapons against
the opposition fighters in the coming days or weeks.
The
arrival of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, one of the 11 US Navy
aircraft carriers that has the capacity to hold thousands of men, is
now stationed at the coast of Syria, DEBKAfile reports. The aircraft
carrier joined the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group, which holds
about 2,500 Marines.
“We
have (US) special operations forces at the right posture, they don’t
have to be sent,” an unnamed US official told The Australian, which
suggested that US military troops are already near Syria and ready to
intervene in the conflict, if necessary.
If
the US decides to intervene militarily in Syria, it now has at its
disposal 10,000 fighting men, 17 warships, 70 fighter-bombers, 10
destroyers and frigates and a guided military cruises. Some of the
vessels are also equipped with Aegis missile interceptors to shoot
down any missiles Syria might have at hand, according to DEBKAfile.
“The
muscle is already there to be flexed,” a US official told the
London Times about the US military’s presence outside of Syria.
“It’s premature to say what could happen if a decision is made to
intervene. That hasn’t taken shape, we’ve not reached that kind
of decision. There are a lot of options, but it [military action]
could be launched rapidly, within days.”
The
move comes after NATO made a significant strategic decision Tuesday
to deploy Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems in Turkey on the
border of Syria where opposition groups have the stronghold. The
defense would be able to protect Turkey from potential Syrian
missiles that could contain chemical weapons, as well as intimidate
Syrian Air Force pilots from bombing the northern Syria border towns,
which the armed rebels control. Syria is thought to have about 700
missiles.
“The
protection from NATO will be three dimensional; one is the
short-range Patriots, the second is the middle-range Terminal High
Altitude Air Defense [THAD] system and the last is the AEGIS system,
which counters missiles that can reach outside the atmosphere,”
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
DEBKAfile’s
anonymous military sources claim the THAD and Aegis arrived at the
Syrian coast aboard the USS Eisenhower.
“The
United States now stands ready for direct military intervention in
the Syrian conflict when the weather permits,” the news source
wrote.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.