Attacks on bases in Syria forces US to extend carrier deployment

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
31 Mar 2023 21:16

One US official says the George H.W. Bush carrier strike group was expected to remain in the European Command area of responsibility.

The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier is seen anchored off Stokes Bay in the Solent, Britain, July 27, 2017 (Reuters)

The United States has decided to extend the deployment of the George H.W. Bush carrier strike group to provide options to policymakers after last week's attacks on its military bases in Syria, Reuters reported on Friday, citing US military officials.

The officials were speaking in reference to drone attacks that were carried out over the span of two consecutive days on March 23-24, where several drones had targeted occupation bases in Syria's occupied Al-Hasakah province, as per the Pentagon, who accused what it called "groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps" of carrying out the attacks.

The decision likely means the Bush strike group and its more than 5,000 US forces, which are now in the European Command operational area, will not be returning to their home port in the United States on schedule, the report noted.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) Spokesperson Colonel Joe Buccino also confirmed the carrier group's extension, which was first reported by Reuters.

"The extension of the George HW Bush Carrier Strike Group, inclusive of the USS Leyte Gulf, the USS Delbert D. Black, and the USNS Arctic, allows options to potentially bolster the capabilities of CENTCOM to respond to a range of contingencies in the Middle East," Buccino said in a statement.

He also noted a scheduled, expedited deployment of a squadron of A-10 attack aircraft to the region.

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Bush strike group was expected to remain in the European Command area of responsibility.

News of the deployment came a day after the Pentagon doubled its tally of the number of US troops wounded in last week's attacks on US occupation military bases in Syria to 12, following the diagnosis of six US military personnel with traumatic brain injuries.

The attacks also killed an American military contractor and injured another.

It is noteworthy that last week, The New York Times reported that the United States was investigating the reason why its air defense system was not fully operational during a strike on the US base in Syria.

The US military currently has no knowledge as to why the system did not work as it should, and the circumstances are being investigated at present time, the report said, citing two officials.

US footprint unchanged in Syria as a result of attacks: WH

On Monday, US National Security Council Special Communications Coordinator, John Kirby, said that the United States has not made any changes to its military footprint in Syria as a result of the recent attacks on US bases in the country.

It is noteworthy that the US has for long employed the alleged "ISIS threat" as a pretext to continue its illegal occupation of northeastern Syrian territories.

US occupation forces frequently loot oil from Syrian gas fields and transport them to other occupation bases in Iraq via illegal crossings.

In early March, the US House of Representatives voted against legislation instructing Biden to end the US occupation of the Syrian Al-Tanf region and remove approximately 900 troops.

Currently, the US army and other foreign forces, participating in the so-called "International Coalition", occupy no less than 28 declared military sites in Syria, distributed over three governorates: Al-Hasakah (17 sites), Deir Ezzor (nine sites), and Homs (two sites).