Hizbullah Slams Deployment of US Warships off Lebanon Coast

Friday, February 29, 2008
DailyStar.com brings us this news article today and it starts off like this... A US deployment of warships off the coast of Lebanon further sharpened tensions in the crisis-plagued country on Friday, as Hizbullah condemned the move and the Lebanese government said it did not ask for the ships to be sent. Hizbullah on Friday denounced Washington's dispatch of the USS Cole and two other vessels to waters off Lebanon as military interference... Hizbullah's condemnation came as pro-government newspapers in Beirut said the deployment was a clear signal to Syria, which is accused by the ruling coalition of blocking a presidential vote...
Read the rest HERE

* FT.com has this report...
Hizbollah Accuses US Of Intimidation Over Vessels Deployed In Eastern Mediterranean

* naharnet.com reports...
Saniora: No Foreign Warships in Lebanon's Territorial Waters

USS COLE photo from Navy.mil website

9 US Warships Enter Gulf For Training Off Iran's Coast

Nine U.S. military ships entered the Gulf on Wednesday for a rare daylight assembly off Iran's coast in what naval officials said was the largest such move since the 2003 Iraq war. U.S. Navy officials said Iran had not been notified of plans to sail the vessels, which include two aircraft carriers, through the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow channel in international waters off Iran's coast and a major artery for global oil shipments...
Read this story in full at SwissInfo.org

>>> CENTCOM has this take on the story...
Stennis, Nimitz and Bonhomme Richard Enter The Arabian Gulf

About Photo: Gulf Of Oman (May 22, 2007) - Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 69), and amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) transit the Gulf of Oman. These ships along with USS Antietam (CG 54), USS Preble (DDG 88), USS O'Kane (DDG 77), USS Higgins (DDG 76), USS Denver (LPD 9) and USS Russell (DDG 59) are part of three different strike groups: John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group, Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, and Bonhomme Richard Expeditionary Strike Group. All three strike groups are deployed in support of maritime security operations.
U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jon Hyde