Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Monday 3 February 2020
Uneasy quiet in Mideast, month after Iran strike against U.S.

By LOLITA C. BALDOR McKenzie requested and
Associated Press received a much larger
ABOARD THE USS HARRY S than usual naval presence
TRUMAN (AP) — Nearly a in his area. Both the Tru-
month after Iran launched man and the USS Bataan
a rare direct military attack steamed rapidly across the
against United States forc- Mediterranean to get to
es in Iraq, an uneasy quiet the Gulf region, and in a
has settled across the Mid- somewhat rare move, one
east. of the destroyers assigned
Watching fighter jets roar to Europe, the USS Carney,
off the flight deck of the was shifted south to join the
aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.
Truman, the top U.S. com- McKenzie and other com-
mander for the region be- manders on the ship ac-
lieves he is surrounded by knowledge that deter-
one of the reasons that Iran rence is a hard thing to
has dialed back its combat measure.
stance, at least for now. But speaking to F/A-18
"You're here because we fighter pilots in their ready
don't want a war with Iran room, McKenzie mapped
and nothing makes a po- out the timeline. Last April
tential adversary think and May, he said, Iranian
twice about war than the leadership decided to be-
presence of an aircraft gin more active offensive
carrier and the strike group military operations in the
that comes with it," Marine Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, top U.S. commander for the Middle East, right, listens as Lt. Maguel region.
Brooks, the USS Harry S. Truman’s handler, left, explains the movement of aircraft on the aircraft
Gen. Frank McKenzie told carrier’s flight deck, on board the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in the North Arabian Sea, In the succeeding months,
the nearly 5,000 service Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. there were attacks on ships
members on board the Associated Press in the Gulf, a pipeline in
100,000-ton ship. "So, we Saudi Arabia and, on Sept.
achieve deterrence, which on the ship underscored his of ballistic missiles at U.S. the 4.5 acre (1.8 hectare) 14, strikes on Saudi oil facili-
is preventing Iran from start- belief that the additional forces in Iraq in retaliation flight deck, conducting a ties. The violence spurred
ing a war." ships, aircraft, weapons for an American drone show of force that also al- U.S. Defense Secretary
Patrolling through the North systems and thousands strike that killed a top Irani- lows them to keep up their Mark Esper to beef up the
Arabian Sea, the Truman of troops that the U.S. has an general, there has been training in case they are military presence in the
was about 150 miles (240 poured into the region in a visible reduction in Teh- needed for combat. Gulf.
kilometers) from Iran when recent months deliver a ran's military posture, McK- "We're practicing our craft," Esper, however, has made
McKenzie and a small num- message. It's one he thinks enzie said. said Hakimzadeh, or Capt. it clear that America's
ber of staff flew aboard on Iran has received. He said Iran brought its bal- Hak, as he is known on top defense priorities are
Saturday. His overnight stay Since Iran launched a flurry listic missile force and its the ship. "Our job is to fuel threats from China and
France to send extra 600 troops air defenses back down up, load up and launch Russia, and he is looking
from a heightened state of airplanes. The only real to send more forces to the
to fight Sahel extremists readiness. Also, the level of change is whether or not Pacific region. For McKen-
the airplanes come back zie, that means frequent
harassment and other ac-
Associated Press tivity by Iran's naval forces with bombs or not." discussions with defense
France will deploy 600 ad- around the congested So far they haven't dropped leaders about his assess-
ditional soldiers in the Afri- Strait of Hormuz has been any bombs. Some of the ment of the Iranian threat
can Sahel region to com- scaled back. ships are taking part in the in the Middle East and why
bat extremists, raising the The drone strike that killed maritime coalition that is he needs the forces he has.
amount of troops there Qassem Soleimani, the safeguarding the Strait of "You know what I associate
to 5,100, the country's de- top Quds Force general, Hormuz, in the wake of Ira- with that period of time,"
fense minister said Sunday. showed that the U.S. is will- nian attacks against com- said McKenzie, referring to
In a statement, Defense ing to take action, and the mercial vessels last year. early last spring. "There was
Minister Florence Parly said arrival of the Truman and Others protect the carrier. no carrier" in the region.
most of the reinforcements the other warships had un- From the bridge, where Now, he said, there is a
to the Barkhane force will derscored that, he said. McKenzie spoke to the "rough kind of stability" in
be deployed in the three "When an aircraft carrier is crew over the ship's loud- the region. But he is reluc-
borders zone between in your neighborhood you speakers, he could look tant to say how long that
Mali, Burkina Faso and Ni- French Minister of Armed know it," said Navy Capt. out at the horizon and see will last, or how long he will
ger. Forces Florence Parly speaks Kavon Hakimzadeh, the the USS Normandy. The be able to hold onto the
during a news conference at
"Another part of these rein- the Pentagon in Washington, Truman's commanding of- weapons-loaded warship military might he's accumu-
forcements will be directly Monday, Jan. 27, 2020, with ficer. stands as a sentry between lated.
engaged within the G5 Sa- Secretary of Defense Mark He said his ship left Norfolk, the carrier and Iran. Out of And over the loudspeaker,
hel forces to accompany Esper. Virginia, in mid-November view were four American he made that uncertainty
them in combat," she said. Associated Press and "almost made a bee- Navy destroyers. Another clear to the Truman crew.
Parly added that Chad Faso, Niger and Chad in line for the Suez Canal." warship loaded with Ma- "One thing I know every-
"should soon deploy an ad- the three borders zone. It's Now, as they maneuver rines is further up the Red body wants to know is
ditional battalion" within the epicenter of the fight off the coast of Oman, a Sea. how long you're gonna
the joint force of the G5 Sa- against jihadist groups, in- steady stream of fighter Despite widespread de- be here," he said. "So I'm
hel, which brings together cluding Islamic State in the jets, surveillance aircraft mands for U.S. Navy ships gonna be honest with you.
Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Grand Sahara (ISIS-GS). q and helicopters launch off in other parts of the world, I don't know."q