US warships headed towards Israel

reply to post by MysterX


Except that if they're landing in Israel somewhere on the shore, well away from where any Hamas member has ever operated, that story falls apart. A Stinger has a decent range, but you'd have to somehow have smuggled it deep into Israeli territory, in the middle of this operation, to get in range of where the helos would be picking up people.

Originally posted by jude11

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by mazzroth

 

What extra hitting power? Two thousand Marines? An LH class would be a drop in the bucket compared to what Israel alone is bringing to the fight. If there were to be a Nimitz going to the area, I'd be worried, but an LH isn't going to add anything to the firepower already in the area.

And the arm chair warriors surface.

You think you know what is going on and truly believe that your knowledge is exact.

Now it's my time to LMAO because you are nothing but an MSM wannabe reporter.

If the US citizens over there were to hang their hopes on your misguided opinions, I truly feel sorry for their families and will hang my head at the funerals.

2200 can't be a back up force but it can be an extraction force? Please

edit on 19-11-2012 by jude11 because: (no reason given)

Yes it can and is. Clearly you have never served in or know anything about military operarions. NEOs or non combatant evacuation operations are fairly common and this is exactly how they are done. They will not just evacuate US citizens (although that will be top priority) they will also evacuate any citizens from allied or other nations at that nations request. A simple look at history will show you how a dozen of these have been done with the exact same assets.

Who is the US going to invade? Gaza? LMAO!!! Geeze folks on here are a trip. But yeah we'll see if there is a US "invasion". Im putting my money on a resounding NO

Originally posted by princeofpeace
Yep!!! Exactly the ones for rescue...NOT INVASION. But the ATS'ers are out in full force and they hear "US ship Israel" and all logic goes out the window and its on to false flags or whatever LMAO!!!! This site is a trip!!!!

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by jude11

 

These are EXACTLY the ships they send in for rescue. The Iwo carries a fairly large complement of helicopters and V-22s, as well as having large living quarters, and a well deck they can put people in. The LH classes have always been used for rescues. When they sent ships to pull people out of Egypt, they sent the Kearsarge (LHD-3), a sister to Iwo Jima. Every time they have had to pull US citizens out, they send an LH class ship.

An LHD carries a single MEU, which is made up of up to 2200 Marines. I'm sorry, but 2200 Marines aren't going to make a difference in this situation when you have the entire Israeli army already on site.

edit on 11/19/2012 by Zaphod58 because: (no reason given)

Thirded.....These are exactly the ships for lifting US citizens (but they are also perfect for catching an 'unexpected' anti shipping missile).

This is what they do before the election. They did this in 2008 and they're doing it again now. The real problem is that for some reason (totally beyond comprehension as far as I'm concerned) approval ratings go up for these warmongers when this happens.



Bloomberg Businessweek

Israeli political leaders are rallying around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu two months before national elections as the conflict in the Gaza Strip intensifies.

If they really are just going to pick up folks, couldn't they send a Carnival Cruise ship instead?

That's thinking out of the box.

reply to post by whatsecret


Ratings approval rises because the event is done under the guise of peace and caring for US citizens. There's nothing wrong with this and as such will inevitably be supported.

I said guise rather than flag, because other than this, the troops at times carry things in be it information or arms, to assist with allied interests.

Originally posted by jude11

Laugh your ass off all you want.

These are also not the ships they send in for rescue.

These are support for the force already on site. Unless the Kool-Aid tastes good today.

Agreed, you have a ship with troops, and helicopters. You have a ship with some air capability, and air defencive capability and you have a ship for ground operations launch.

It looks like a small attack force ... certainly not a bunch of nursing ships, with destroyer support.

My theory is that this has something to do with Benghazi. USA failed to evacuate the embassy there properly ahead of the tragedy that happened there. This made Obama look bad. So, going all in on a full extraction force to protect civilians might be the first priority for Obama now because it will look really bad in retrospect if the don't. My second theory would be that perhaps Obama knows something about the neighboring countries of Israel that we don't? That Egypt is very unstable or that something is going on in Leabanon? Anyway, troops-movements is the way to predict a war. If you go full tactical and analytical on this, it might even be a ruse to aid Israel in their negotiations. But, somehow I doubt that. This movement of troop is real, and it happened for a reason. Because Obama would not help Israel this much after being so much against any action from them.

reply to post by bjarneorn


You don't send hospital ships in to pull civilians out. You send warships. Preferably large ones, with lots of room, and lots of defensive capability, so they can protect themselves.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by bjarneorn

 

You don't send hospital ships in to pull civilians out. You send warships. Preferably large ones, with lots of room, and lots of defensive capability, so they can protect themselves.

These ships have only room for a few thousand, and most of that room is occupied with soldiers. When you pull out civilians, it would make sense to have a ship that can take passangers, and then capable ships to protect it.

No?

reply to post by bjarneorn


They usually house them on the flight deck and well deck. A hospital ship would take weeks to get there. You pot them on an LHD and then quickly get them to where they can catch a flight home.

Originally posted by bjarneorn

Originally posted by Zaphod58
reply to post by bjarneorn

 

You don't send hospital ships in to pull civilians out. You send warships. Preferably large ones, with lots of room, and lots of defensive capability, so they can protect themselves.

These ships have only room for a few thousand, and most of that room is occupied with soldiers. When you pull out civilians, it would make sense to have a ship that can take passangers, and then capable ships to protect it.

No?

No. this is how it is done. Look up Operartion Shining Express or Silver Wake they a couple of many that use the same assets. You can find many more if your truly curious. They are called NEOs or Non-combantant Evacuation Operations.

well we knew we would end up involved some way shape or form

reply to post by blackz28


Except we didn't get involved. And most likely aren't going to.

Well, here's to hoping those ships were actually sent over there for their stated purpose, and that we don't let israel or anyone else drag us into this crap.

dangerous times indeed

Personally I think the real reason we are going in there with these particular assets, is two-fold. We have a fairly formidable battle force of Marines to be utilized to choke the illegal flow of arms into Gaza through the Sinai. 2200 Marines may not be that fearsome as an invading force, but they can lock down an area so tight, a gnat can't pass without them knowing about it. I have seen that firsthand during my time in Vietnam. F**k with the Marines at your own peril. Morsi has stepped on his d**k and opened the door for this action by brokering the current ceasefire and Hamas will be the worse for it. The other objective IS getting Americans and others out of harm's way. After Israel deals with the Iranian escorted supply ships, there could be a serious backlash. There is always a chance the Russians or ChiComs could intervene, but that would be problematic for them on an Economic level as well as Militarily. One can never predict what will happen, but one thing is sure in my mind. This is not an invasion of Gaza.

reply to post by iwilliam


I BELIEVE that the Iwo and escorts are on their way back to the Med now.

Zaphod is absolutely correct here. This is the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit which just spent over half a year in the Persian Gulf. They had made a port visit in Spain and were headed to Norfolk when they headed back to the coast of Israel. They are designed specifically to carry out a small invasion and would ALSO be perfect for a rescue mission. The stated goal of this mission is rescue US citizens from Israel in case tensions escalate.

OF COURSE they are no match for the entire Israeli Army. Do you really think we are going to fight the Israelis? But they are still the biggest Naval force in the region, and they can carry quite a punch. Think about the weaponry they could bring to bear if they wanted (were allowed) to.

It's not just three ships. Those are just the core of the group. Also included are detroyers, a supply ship, and probably a fast attack submarine or two. The complement varies.

The Iwo Jima is an LHD, a "Landing Helicopter Dock" ship which supports VTOL aircraft such as the Harrier as well as lots of different choppers. It's about as big as a WW II era aircraft carrier, but it is NOT an aircraft carrier in the way we use that term today. (This can get confusing when we talk about "carriers in the gulf.")

Yes, we do have two CVN carriers, The USS Eisenhower, and the USS Stennis, but they are in the Persian Gulf, about 1,000 miles away. They really would do no good in this situation because they are beyond the conventional range of an F/A-18.

I've been fighting these insane "3 carriers in the Gulf" and "the Enteroprise is a false flag!" for years on ATS and this is the first time a force has actually been turned around and re-inserted. I'll bet the guys on board those ships are seriously pissed. They were within two weeks of returning home after a long deployment. And I'll bet they are running out of Diet Coke, too. They are going to have to get another supply ship in there pretty quick if the group is going to stay out much longer.