The USS Theodore Roosevelt has been withdrawn from the Persian Gulf. This was announced a few minutes ago by the United States Navy.
With the release of Roosevelt, the US has no carrier in the Middle East. This did not happen since the 2007. The Pentagon, for what appears to be a sort of US back in the fight in Syria and Iraq against ISIS, took this decision in one of the most delicate moments of the war. Another aircraft carrier, with its battle group, will arrive in the Gulf just before the end of the next winter, ie in the 2016.
"The Navy had no choice but to withdraw its carrier, worn out by the continuous interventions in all the theaters of crisis where the US is engaged. The delays accumulated in maintenance can no longer wait. We will, however, guarantee our support within the coalition and respect the commitments made ".
However, it appears evident that the US offensive capacity in the Middle East is greatly reduced as it did not by the 2007. Roosevelt reports 5.000 soldiers and 65 fighter planes in their homeland, until recently engaged in raids against ISIS. According to the Pentagon, the raids will continue from bases in Turkey.
But one wonders how strongly the United States intends to continue to hit the Islamic State, considering that the Air Force could have slightly less than twenty F-16 in those bases. That void left by those 65 fighter planes brought back to their homeland will not be filled by the coalition in any way.
The Theodore Roosevelt was lined up with the US Fifth Fleet. If we consider this the suspension of the "train and equip" program (announced a few hours ago) by Syrian rebels, we can affirm, given in hand, that from today Putin is the master of the Middle East, with a military capacity that is not equal in the Region . And perhaps this was the goal of the Russians, from the beginning.
From tomorrow a new phase in the war against the factions hostile to Assad begins and only the Russians will dictate the rules.
(photo: US Navy)
