Title
Warships 'to remind Iran of US power'
Link
Warships 'to remind Iran of US power' | The Australian
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Excerpt
MEXICO CITY: The decision to send a second US aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf should be a "reminder" to Iran of Washington's military might but was not an escalation of force in the region, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday.
Mr Gates flatly denied that the US was preparing the way to commence military attacks against Iran.
"I don't think we'll have two carriers for a protracted period of time. So I don't see it as an escalation. I think it could be seen, though, as a reminder," he told reporters during a visit to Mexico City to brief officials there.
A US Navy spokesman, Jeff Davis, said the USS Abraham Lincoln would overlap with the departing aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman by "no more than a day or two".
The arrival of the formidable warship in the Gulf follows a noticeable hardening of US rhetoric against Iran, accusing Tehran of meddling in Iraq and destabilising the region.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, said last week he was increasingly concerned about Iran's behaviour, and he pointedly warned Tehran: "It would be a mistake to think we are out of combat power."
Admiral Mullen acknowledged that a third US conflict in the Middle East would be "very stressing for us".
However, CBS News reported that the Pentagon has ordered new options to be drawn up for attacking Iran, and said the State Department has begun drafting an ultimatum that would tell Iran to stop meddling in Iraq and the region or else.
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Comment:
War could break out at any time once the second carrier arrives.