Syrian Crisis...2013

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A sixth U.S. warship is now operating in the eastern Mediterranean, near five U.S. destroyers armed with cruise missiles that could soon be directed against Syria as part of a "limited, precise" strike, defense officials said late on Friday.

They stressed that the USS San Antonio, an amphibious ship with several hundred U.S. Marines on board, was in the region for a different reason and there were no plans to put Marines on the ground as part of any military action against Syria.

One of the officials said the San Antonio's passage into the Mediterranean was long-planned, but officials thought it prudent to keep the ship in the eastern Mediterranean near the destroyers given the current situation.

"It's been kept there as a precaution," said one of the officials, who was not authorized to speak publicly.

The San Antonio transited through the Suez Canal on Thursday from the Red Sea, and received new orders on Friday to remain in the eastern Mediterranean, near the destroyers, according to defense officials. It is one of three ships that are carrying 2,200 Marines who have been on a six-month deployment in the region around the Arabian peninsula.

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bd popeye said:

Translation .. alcohol abuse and sexual fraternization. I've been in this type situation before and once the main characters are removed the situation and morale change drastically.

This has nothing to do with Stout ability to perform at this time two years later.

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bd popeye said:

This whole situation with Syria is another quagmire waiting to happen.

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President Barack Obama on Saturday declared that he has decided that the United States should launch limited military strikes against Syria and pressed Congress to authorize them, warning "in a world with many dangers, this menace must be confronted."
“After careful deliberation, I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets,” Obama said in the Rose Garden of the White House.

“This would not be an open-ended intervention, we would not put boots on the ground,” he said. “Instead, our action would be designed to be limited in duration and scope.”

Obama said he had spoken by telephone with Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and that they agreed to hold a debate and a vote on authorizing the use of force "as soon as Congress comes back into session." That would be Sept. 9 unless they opt to return earlier.

"I’m prepared to give that order, but having made my decision as commander in chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interest, I’m also mindful that I’m the president of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy," Obama said. "I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress."
The president said his top military advisers had assured him that American military assets are in place and can "strike whenever we choose" and that the decision to unleash an attack is "not time sensitive – it will be effective tomorrow, or next week, or one month from now."

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bd popeye said:

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President Barack Hussein Obama said:

"I’m prepared to give that order, but having made my decision as commander in chief based on what I am convinced is our national security interest, I’m also mindful that I’m the president of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy," Obama said. "I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people's representatives in Congress."

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