US Strike Group Headed to Red Sea, Syria

Major naval force assembling in eastern Med
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 2, 2013 1:15 AM CDT
US Strike Group Headed to Red Sea, Syria
US Navy crew members work on a fighter jet aboard the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier.    (AP Photo/Oskar Garcia)

While President Obama waits for Congress to vote on a strike on Syria, the US is building up its naval force in the region. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and its strike group are now moving toward the Red Sea to be in place if it is needed, Reuters reports. The carrier group had been due to sail back to its home port in Washington state. The USS San Antonio , which carries 300 Marines, has diverted to join five American destroyers already in the eastern Mediterranean and could serve as a staging post for special forces troops, officials say. The American destroyers are carrying around 200 Tomahawk missiles —twice as many as experts say would be needed for a limited strike on Syria. (More USS Nimitz stories.)

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