As the tension between Israel and Iran continues to escalate, United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and an aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area earlier in August.
The order came out after the phone call between Austin and Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Galant on Aug. 11, which was confirmed by the Department of Defense (DOD) Press Secretary Major General Patrick Ryder.
Austin ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group, with F-35C fighter jets onboard. He also ordered the deployment of the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) guided missile submarine to the region. The USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine, was already in the Mediterranean Sea in July, according to a U.S. military post on social media, but it is rare for the U.S. to publicly announce the deployment of a submarine. Meanwhile, the Abraham Lincoln group had been in the Asia Pacific and had already been ordered to the Middle East to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, which was scheduled to begin heading home.
In a statement by the DOD, Austin reiterated America's commitment to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions in the wake of the Israeli assassinations in Tehran and Beirut. (Related: White House approves new $20 billion arms sales to Israel.)
Political leader of the Iran-backed Hamas Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on July 31, with Iran blaming Israel and promising to retaliate while the latter denied responsibility. The killing of Haniyeh came in the same week that Fuad Shukr, the senior military commander of another Iran-backed group Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli attack on Beirut.
Last week, Austin said the military augmentation was expected to arrive in the area by the end of the month. The carrier has F-35 and F/A-18 fighter jets on board.
The Pentagon added in the statement that Austin and Gallant had also discussed "the importance of mitigating civilian harm, progress towards securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages held in Gaza."
Meanwhile, critics condemn the Biden administration for not minding its own business and insinuating itself in an unstable region like the Middle East. "The last thing the U.S. should be doing is getting involved in the affairs of a region that is thousands of miles away, that's no longer in the national interest," Big League Politics' Jose Alberto Nino said.
Biden "green lights" the continued genocide in Gaza by declaring Hamas is backing away from the truce
Hamas said that U.S. President Joe Biden's comment that the Palestinian group was backing away from a Gaza ceasefire agreement with Israel was "misleading."
"It's still in play, but you can't predict," Biden said while leaving the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. "Israel says they can work it out … Hamas is now backing away."
According to Hamas, the president's remarks "green lights" Israel to continue the war. "The misleading claims... do not reflect the true position of the movement, which is keen to reach a ceasefire" agreement, the Palestinian militant group said in a statement.
"The proposal recently presented to us goes against what the parties had agreed on July 2, this is considered an American response and acquiescence to the terrorist Netanyahu's new conditions and his criminal plans towards the Gaza Strip," Hamas added, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The militant group also said Biden's remarks reflect a clear "American bias" toward Israel and Washington's complicity in the "war of extermination against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip."
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Egypt Tuesday, Aug. 20, for talks on a Gaza ceasefire. He will then head to Qatar, which along with Egypt is brokering negotiations for a truce in the 10-month-old conflict. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi warned Blinken about the risk of Israel's war on Gaza expanding regionally in a way "difficult to imagine" and emphasized that "the time has come to end the ongoing war."
"The ceasefire in Gaza must be the beginning of broader international recognition of the Palestinian state and the implementation of the two-state solution, as this is the basic guarantor of stability in the region," El-Sisi said.
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Watch the video below where former intel officer Scott Ritter talks about Israel Defense Forces crumbling as Iran prepares the "knockout blow."
This video is from Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.
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