nothing like the awesome power of a US Naval Carrier Group (or three)
to take the measure of a man. or a mullah. or a country.
Too bad the reporter got at least one verifiable fact completely
incorrect. Nimitz is not 'joining' Eisenhower and Stennis. There is
a normal rotation of Carrier Battle Groups. It's on the schedule for
months in advance. Nimitz is rotating in; Eisenhower is rotating out.
So this quote from the Newsmax story:
"Adding to those doubts were reports that the USS Nimitz was steaming
toward the Persian Gulf – making it the third Carrier Strike Group in
the area.
The Nimitz is expected to join the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and the
USS John C. Stennis, both currently in the Persian Gulf, in the coming
weeks."
... is wrong. What's even funnier is that Newsmax already know that
it's wrong. See their story on 30 March 2007
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/30/94349.shtml?s=lh
'Nimitz to replace Eisenhower in Persian Gulf.'
The fact that two CVBGs are in the Gulf is a sure sign that the Navy
is either retarded or supremely confident that nothing's going to
happen. The Gulf's restricted waters are a nasty place for a CVBG.
If the Navy thought something was up, they'd certainly operate in the
Arabian Sea or the Med; not the Gulf.
If the key assertion (3 CVBGs in the Gulf) is wrong, I don't have much
faith in the rest of the fellow's opinion. For facts on the US Navy
Carrier Battle Groups, see
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=200&ct=4
