USS Theodore Roosevelt leaves Middle East despite tensions

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Sep 2024 15:58
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The USS Theodore Roosevelt is departing the Middle East after an extended deployment, as US military forces continue to defend "Israel" during its genocide in Gaza, raising concerns about the broader impact on US global military deployments.

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In this photograph released by the US Navy, the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is seen July 4, 2024, in the South China Sea. (AP)

US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and destroyer USS Daniel Inouye are heading to the Indo-Pacific Command area on Thursday, according to US officials speaking to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the other destroyer in the group, the USS Russell, previously left the Middle East and is operating in the South China Sea.

This comes after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin earlier ordered the USS Roosevelt to extend its deployment and remain in the region for a short period after it had arrived in the Red Sea about two months ago. His order coincided with another order to speed up the arrival of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to the area.

The USS Abraham Lincoln, currently stationed in the Gulf of Oman, arrived in the Middle East about three weeks ago, allowing its missions to overlap with those of the USS Roosevelt, with both carriers being in the region simultaneously.

Submarine USS Georgia remains in Red Sea

With the withdrawal of the USS Roosevelt, "the Pentagon’s rare move to keep two Navy aircraft carriers in the Middle East over the past several weeks has now finished," AP reported.

Additionally, American ships are located in the eastern Mediterranean, while the submarine USS Georgia remains in the Red Sea.

It is worth noting that these US military actions in the Middle East are part of America's support for the Israeli occupation in its genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

However, despite the significant US military buildup and vast spending in an attempt to deter Resistance forces, predominantly Yemen, from defending Gaza, support fronts continue to carry out military operations in solidarity with the Palestinian people and Resistance in the Strip.

In Yemen, the armed forces, which previously targeted the USS Dwight Eisenhower aircraft carrier multiple times, continue to strike ships linked to the Israeli occupation in their maritime operation zone.

There is also anticipation regarding Iran's response after Tehran repeatedly vowed to retaliate against the occupation for the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political bureau chief of Hamas.

Meanwhile, concerns are growing in the United States about the impact of the current military deployment in the Middle East on global deployments in the coming years.

It is worth noting that the USS Eisenhower returned to the United States in June, after spending nearly eight months in the Red Sea, where it engaged in what the US Navy described as "the most intense naval confrontation since World War II," during which it failed to deter military operations directed against "Israel."

US Navy without aircraft carrier in Indo-Pacific in first since 2001

Back on August 28, it was reported that for the first time in decades, the US military had no aircraft carrier strike groups stationed in the Indo-Pacific region, despite rising tensions with China over contested islands in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

This came as tensions mounted in the Middle East and after the US Pentagon ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln’s deployment from the Pacific to the Middle East amid the risk of confrontations erupting following "Israel's" assassination of Resistance leaders in Beirut and Tehran and the attack on Yemeni infrastructure, the US is left with no naval aircraft carrier in the Indo-Pacific.

Currently, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, as well as the USS Abraham Lincoln have been deployed in the Middle East. According to a report by the US Naval Institute (USNI), published on August 26, they were both stationed in the Gulf of Oman at the time.

According to The Washington Times, the redeployment has resulted in the US being without a carrier in the Indo-Pacific region for the first time since 2001.

Similarly, the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson, the two other carriers based in the Pacific, remain docked on the West Coast.

The no-carrier in the Indo-Pacific situation was set to remain at least until September as Navy officials noted that the USS George Washington, based in San Diego, is en route to Japan but will not arrive in the region until then.