An uneasy quiet has settled across the Mideast nearly a month after Iran launched a rare direct military attack against United States forces in Iraq.
The view as Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, top U.S. commander for the Middle East, watches from the bridge as an F/A 18 fighter jet lands on the USS Harry S. Truman, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. The aircraft carrier is in the North Arabian Sea. Nearly a month after Iran launched a rare direct military attack against United States forces in Iraq, an uneasy quiet has settled across the region. Watching fighter jets roar off the flight deck of the USS Harry S. Truman, the top U.S.
Patrolling through the North Arabian Sea, the Truman was about 150 miles from Iran when McKenzie and a small number of staff flew aboard on Saturday. His overnight stay on the ship underscored his belief that the additional ships, aircraft, weapons systems and thousands of troops that the U.S. has poured into the region in recent months deliver a message. It's one he thinks Iran has received.
The drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the top Quds Force general, showed that the U.S. is willing to take action, and the arrival of the Truman and the other warships had underscored that, he said. Now, as they maneuver off the coast of Oman, a steady stream of fighter jets, surveillance aircraft and helicopters launch off the 4.5 acre flight deck, conducting a show of force that also allows them to keep up their training in case they are needed for combat.
From the bridge, where McKenzie spoke to the crew over the ship's loudspeakers, he could look out at the horizon and see the USS Normandy. The weapons-loaded warship stands as a sentry between the carrier and Iran. Out of view were four American Navy destroyers. Another warship loaded with Marines is further up the Red Sea.
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