US Increases Military Presence in Middle East, Persian Gulf
The USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East this weekend after eight months without a carrier in the region
Dan Arkin
| 09/12/2018
USS John C. Stennis (Photo: AP)
A carrier strike group led by the Nimitz-class supercarrier USS John C. Stennis has arrived in the Middle East over the weekend, the US Navy has confirmed.
The carrier group will be based with the 5th Fleet, which is responsible for US naval activity in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and will be stationed in the region for at least two months.
According to Voice of America, the carrier strike group is being deployed to "help in the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria and the war in Afghanistan."
Pentagon officials say the USS Stennis will also send a signal to Tehran. "Just being there is a show of force to Iran," a US defense official told VOA.
Earlier this month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said that the US would have to train 35,000 to 40,000 more "local forces" to "provide stability" in eastern Syria, where US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces took control following ISIS’ expulsion from the region.
The USS John C. Stennis aircraft carrier strike group has arrived in the Middle East this weekend after eight months without a carrier in the region
USS John C. Stennis (Photo: AP)
A carrier strike group led by the Nimitz-class supercarrier USS John C. Stennis has arrived in the Middle East over the weekend, the US Navy has confirmed.
The carrier group will be based with the 5th Fleet, which is responsible for US naval activity in the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf, and will be stationed in the region for at least two months.
According to Voice of America, the carrier strike group is being deployed to "help in the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Iraq and Syria and the war in Afghanistan."
Pentagon officials say the USS Stennis will also send a signal to Tehran. "Just being there is a show of force to Iran," a US defense official told VOA.
Earlier this month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said that the US would have to train 35,000 to 40,000 more "local forces" to "provide stability" in eastern Syria, where US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces took control following ISIS’ expulsion from the region.
