US sends more missile defense warships to Middle East amid Iran tensions

The United States sent additional warships to the Middle East that are capable of defending against missiles amid an increase in tensions between Iran and Israel.

“We've adjusted our military posture to strengthen our force protection,” US Secretary of State Lloyd Austin said at a press conference in Maryland.

This will “reinforce our ironclad commitment to the offense of Israel” and allow the US to “remain prepared to respond to any contingency.”
“To maintain our carrier strike group presence in the Middle East, I've ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt later this month,” he said.

“I've also ordered more cruisers and destroyers capable of ballistic missile defense to the region,” Austin stressed.

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US sends more missile defense warships to Middle East amid Iran tensions

Austin stressed that the United States “remains intensely focused on de-escalating tensions in the region,” he said.

m.jpost.com

 

[mattfivefour]

In the article above, Austin is quoted as saying, "This will 'reinforce our ironclad commitment to the offense of Israel...' " Um, didn't he mean defense?

 

[1LoverofGod]

In the article above, Austin is quoted as saying, "This will 'reinforce our ironclad commitment to the offense of Israel...' " Um, didn't he mean defense?

I checked other news sources for Austin's quote in case it may have been a misprint.
Nope. No misprint. That's what Austin said.
He may have misspoken his choice of word, saying "offense" when he meant to say defense.
If he didn't make a mistake, that is very interesting he said "offensive" and I wonder what he meant by saying that.
Good eye Adrian that you noticed that.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

There's an awful lot of ships from a lot of countries over there now.
Wonder if they need some traffic signals or traffic cops

Seriously, they could all get bottled up if something were to happen at the Strait of Gibralter.

The Strait of Gibralter is only 8.1 miles across. "The strait lies in the territorial waters of Morocco, Spain, and the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, foreign vessels and aircraft have the freedom of navigation and overflight to cross the strait of Gibraltar in case of continuous transit."

Strait of Gibraltar - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The Suez Canal makes anything in it a pretty easy target unless Egypt has everything secured. Since muslim brotherhood, USSR, Egypt, PLO/PLA, Hamas, etc. are allies, now is "probably" not a good time for US military watercraft to transit there.

"The [Suez] canal is operated and maintained by the state-owned Suez Canal Authority[6] (SCA) of Egypt. Under the Convention of Constantinople, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag."[7] Nevertheless, the canal has played an important military strategic role as a naval short-cut and choke point. Navies with coastlines and bases on both the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea (Egypt and Israel) have a particular interest in the Suez Canal. After Egypt closed the Suez Canal at the beginning of the Six-Day War on 5 June 1967, the canal remained closed for eight years, reopening on 5 June 1975.[8]"

Suez Canal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org