USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier deploys to Mideast
The United States is deploying the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier and its strike group to the Middle East to support combat operations against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group.
The Nimitz Class carrier is now streaming towards the Persian Gulf and is expected to join France’s only aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle, in the region.
The deployment comes days after ISIL claimed responsibility for a string of coordinated attacks in Paris, which killed 132 people and injured many more Friday night.
The Truman strike group includes the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, Navy destroyers and other escort ships.
"We certainly extend our condolences to the French and look forward to supporting them as part of a coalition in any way that we can," said Rear Admiral Bret Batchelder, the Truman’s commander, the Navy Times reported on Monday.
“We are a barometer of national resolve. We are going to go where it is most important for our nation to send us, anywhere around the globe, and we don't need a permission slip to operate there,” he added.
The USS Theodore Roosevelt left the 5th Fleet in mid-October, leaving the Middle East region without a carrier until the Truman gets there, which should be about six weeks.
US President Barack Obama acknowledged Monday that the Paris attacks were a “terrible and sickening setback" in the fight against Daesh, and vowed to step up the campaign to defeat the terror organization.
However, Obama ruled out the possibility of deploying American ground troops to combat the terrorists. The US has already deployed about 50 Special Operations forces to Syria to “assist” the allied militants on the ground there.
The Paris attacks have brought the Obama administration’s strategy against Daesh into sharp focus. The bombings and shootings happened hours after an interview aired in which Obama claimed the terror group had been “contained.”
The presence of two carriers in the region will allow the US-led coalition to ramp up airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in the coming months.
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