USS Nimitz aircraft carrier moves into Red Sea

PanARMENIAN.Net - The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and four other ships in its strike group moved into the Red Sea early on Monday, Sept 2, U.S. defense officials said, describing the move as "prudent planning" in case the ships are needed for military action against Syria, Reuters reported.

The officials said the Nimitz entered the Red Sea around 6 am EDT, but the strike group had not received any orders to move into the Mediterranean, where five U.S. destroyers and an amphibious ship remain poised for possible cruise missile strikes against Syria.

The nuclear-powered Nimitz is accompanied by the Princeton, a cruiser, and three destroyers - the William P. Lawrence, Stockdale and Shoup, the officials said.

They said there had been no change regarding six U.S. Navy ships now in the eastern Mediterranean, but military planners were reassessing the situation given a delay in the cruise missile strikes that had been expected this past weekend, according to Reuters.

Meanwhile, China warned Washington against taking unilateral action on Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians. "China is firmly opposed to the use of chemical weapons by any party in Syria and expresses serious concern about certain countries’ preparation for unilateral military action," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency during a daily briefing.

The speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament, Valentina Matvienko said the lawmakers will call on the U.S. Congress not to approve the Syria strikes. “I think if we manage to establish a dialogue with our partners in the U.S. Congress ... we could possibly better understand each other, and we hope that the U.S. Congress will occupy a balanced position in the end and, without strong arguments in place ... will not support the proposal on use of force in Syria,” she said, according to Reuters.

NATO’s chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday he is convinced that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people and insists “a strong reaction is needed to show dictators around the world that such weapons cannot be used with impunity.”

According to The Associated Press, he said that the alliance would remain a strong defender of Turkey in case the member state was attacked as part of the Syria crisis, and NATO would remain a forum for allies to consult about action. He says that, at the moment, he does not see an additional NATO role.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday backed off imminent strikes by five destroyers off the coast of Syria until Congress had time to vote its approval. Defense officials said the delay gave them more time to reassess which ships and other weapons will be kept in the region - and whether some may be allowed to leave. Congress returns to Washington September 9.