"An aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, has arrived in the Indian Ocean, dispatched from the South China Sea alongside three destroyers equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles. Its eight-squadron air wing includes F-35C and F/A-18 jets and, critically, EA-18G Growlers to suppress anything that is left of Iran's air defences after last year's war with Israel. Open-source monitors have spotted transport planes bringing what they believe to be US air defence systems to the Gulf."
"Michael Carpenter, a former member of the US national security council, under Joe Biden, believes that the most plausible military option would be to go after Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a capture-or-kill operation modelled on the seizure of Venezuela's former president Nicolas Maduro. Targeting other key Iranian military sites would not obviously degrade the country's regime significantly, he added. I find it unlikely, dubious, that these would have the strategic effects sought, he said."
"On top of that, squadrons of F-15 fighters an estimated 35 planes have been redeployed from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk to Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Jordan. It had been intended for the F-15s to be flown back to the US, but now they have been deployed as extra defensive cover for Israel, Jordan, Iraq and the region if the conflict escalates."
US military presence in the Middle East has been increased with the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier, three destroyers armed with Tomahawk missiles, and an eight-squadron air wing including F-35C, F/A-18 and EA-18G Growlers. Open-source monitors reported transport planes bringing US air-defence systems to the Gulf and Patriot and THAAD batteries are expected to protect bases from Iranian drones and missiles. Around 35 F-15 fighters were redeployed from RAF Lakenheath to Jordan to provide defensive cover for Israel, Jordan and Iraq. A capture-or-kill operation targeting Ayatollah Khamenei is presented as a plausible option, though its success and strategic effects are judged dubious.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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