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mick silver
10th June 2016, 04:04 PM
Moscow Warns Of Prompt Response After US Sends Destroyer To Black Sea Source: Zero Hedge (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-10/moscow-warns-prompt-response-after-us-sends-destroyer-black-sea)

Having sent not one but two aircraft carriers into the Mediterranean in what, as we reported yesterday, was meant to be a "clear message to Russia (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-09/us-deploys-two-aircraft-carriers-mediterranean-send-clear-message-russia)", the US decided to further antagonize Russia when on Monday it sent the US destroyer Porter in the Black Sea (http://sputniknews.com/military/20160606/1040882816/us-destroyer-black-sea.html)"for a series of drills with allies and forces of partner nations in what the United States called a routine deployment", the US Navy announced. To be sure, the US Navy was quite clear about its intentions with these deployments: “It provides some needed presence in the Med to check…the Russians,” the official said. “The unpredictability of what we did with Truman kind of makes them think twice.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2016/06/04/porter_0.jpg
The guided-missile destroyer, USS Porter
Well, as we said yesterday (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-09/us-deploys-two-aircraft-carriers-mediterranean-send-clear-message-russia), "we expect Russia to respond promptly", and sure enough it did just that when earlier today the Russian Foreign ministry, cited by Reuters (http://sputniknews.com/us/20160605/1040799624/uss-porter-enters-black-sea.html), said Moscow would respond to a U.S. naval ship's entry into the Black Sea with unspecified measures, saying it and other deployments were designed to ratchet up tensions ahead of a NATO summit, the RIA news agency reported. And this time, the US is not covering up behind some fake diplomatic pretext, and freely admits its intention is to fully antagonize Russia by sending a heavily armed vessel in what is the Russian equivalent to the Gulf of Mexico.
Russian state media reported that the USS Porter, a U.S. naval destroyer, entered the Black Sea a few days ago on a routine deployment, a move it said raised hackles in Moscow because it had recently been fitted with a new missile system. Of course, this is in addition to the two aircraft carriers already on location in the Mediterranean as the US is seemingly eager to dramatically escalate tensions with Russia, this time over sea.
"Of course, this does not meet with our approval and will undoubtedly lead to response measures," RIA cited Andrei Kelin, a senior Foreign Ministry official, as saying about the USS Porter's movements. He also said the deployment of U.S. aircraft carriers in the Mediterranean was a show of force which in his view deepened a chill in ties between Moscow and Washington caused by Russia's actions in Ukraine and Syria."
As regards the overall situation of course there is a definite increase and stoking of tensions in our relations," he was quoted as saying.
“There is nothing special about the movement of US vessels in this case. We know that aircraft carriers are moving in the Mediterranean Sea and elsewhere, they have a right to do so, this is freedom of navigation,” he said. “But in general, this is a definite increase in [Russia-US] relations and all this is done ahead of the NATO summit in Warsaw – this is a demonstration of force,” he added.
While we don't know what the "unspecified measure" that Russia will respond with is just yet, it is certain to provoke further escalation between the two military superpowers, which as covered extensively in the recent past, have also escalated in the nuclear arena to the point where security experts are warning that the "Risk Of Nuclear Dirty Bomb Is Rising On Poor US-Russia Relations (http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-06-07/cold-war-headlines-returns-risk-nuclear-dirty-bomb-surges-poor-us-russia-relations)."
Sadly, it increasingly looks like that just the first great depression ended in global conflict, war in some capacity is inevitable this time as well.

mick silver
10th June 2016, 04:55 PM
For the first time in nearly four years, the U.S. has deployed four aircraft-carrier strike groups at the same time. Two more carriers are conducting drills, making for six of 10 in the fleet participating in operations. And one more carrier is preparing to be deployed.
The aicraft carriees are deployed at a moment of increased tensions in the South China Sea, a high activity of the US-led military block “NATO” in Europea and intensification of military operations in Syria and Iraq.


The John C. Stennis (CVN 74) group is continuing operations in and near the South China Sea. On June 4, the Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) departed from Yokosuka, Japan. This aircraft-carrier strike group will likely to help the John C. Stennis to keep the “peace and stability” in the region.
The Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) is in the eastern Mediterranean, coducting airstrikes against ISIS targets (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/06/03/uss-harry-truman-launching-strikes-against-isis-from-mediterranean.html) and deterring a “Russian agression (http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-carriers-moves-send-message-to-russia-1465419667).” And the Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) aircraft-carrier strike group, departed from the US East Coast on June 1, is also going to be deployed (https://www.rt.com/news/345921-us-carriers-mediterranean-nato/) to support “US national security interests in Europe (http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=95123).”
The Carl Vinson (CVN 70) and George Washington (CVN 73) are undergoing qualifications and training at the West and East coasts of North America.
The George H. W. Bush (CVN 77) is expected to be deployed later this year, after the training operations in June.

In late 2012 and early 2013, the US noticeably cut back deployments starting in response to spending restrictions caused by mandated budget cuts under sequestration rules. Now, the US miltiary is struggling to build up operating funds. Only in May, the US Navy informed Congress of an $848 million shortfall in fleet-wide readiness accounts. $91 million of these funds was result of the Truman’s deployment to operate in the Mediterranean. But despite the cost, the US Navy is intend to increase deployment, especoally in the Mediterranean Sixth Fleet region. The Pentagon describes this as an effort to counter the growth in Russian operations in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the John C. Stennis has spent a significant time in the South China Sea, re-establishing US military presence as a counter to China’s extensive growth there. The Ronald Reagan aircraft-carrier strike group, located near the region, pursues the same goal. The US leadership believes that the Chinese program of artificial islands in the South China Sea challenges (https://southfront.org/foreign-policy-diary-confrontation-in-the-south-china-sea/) the US dominance at the maritime routes. In turn, China sees own efforts to set an area denial (https://southfront.org/foreign-policy-diary-the-us-china-standoff-in-the-indo-asia-pacific-region/) for the US Navy in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea (and maybe in some other regions in the future) as the only answer to the US Navy capabilities overseas.
Both operations, in the Mediterranean and in the South China Sea, are pursuing the goal to display an advantage in the naval power to its geopolitical opponents and inspire the allies in Europe, in the Middle East and in the Asia-Pacific region.
https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/maritime_10_06_2016.jpg (https://southfront.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/maritime_10_06_2016.jpg)Click to see the full-size map

- See more at: https://southfront.org/u-s-deploys-aircraft-carrier-strike-groups-against-china-russia/#sthash.vKWrfRNW.dpuf