US Navy deploys 2nd aircraft carrier to Gulf
By: Adam Fox
Government officials can say what they will, but this is not a routine exercise for the U.S.S Enterprise as it heads to the Persian Gulf. Cmdr. Amy Derrick-Frost of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet says the deployment is “routine and not specific to any threat.” This is a true statement as the only enemy in the waters will be pirates of the shores of Somalia, but in the greater context this is a play on the chess board between Iran and the United States. The article puts the context of the Iran and U.S. relations over Iran’s nuclear program, but it doesn’t show the deployment of the carrier in a historical sense to explain its purpose in the current relations.
In 2010 for example, the U.S. deployed an aircraft carrier to the Korean Peninsula following a North Korean artillery shelling of a South Korean Island. This was intended to remind North Korea (and China), that the U.S. is supporting South Korea. We have seen this even further back in history when the U.S. would send aircraft carriers to the Taiwan Strait to show America’s support of the Republic of China (Taiwan). With this carrier deployment, the U.S. is showing to Iranian politicians their resolve for the protection of oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz (which Iran officials threatened to close following more intense sanctions from the EU and UN). Middle-Easterners do not want more of a U.S. presence in the region. They have had enough with Iraq and Afghanistan, so this move will put pressure on Iran to appease American demands in hope of less U.S. intervention in the volatile region. But the Obama administration has decided to move their queen to E6, now it is Iran’s turn to make a move in this important political relationship.
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