Lots of detail from the Navy Times:
The aircraft carrier John C. Stennis and its strike group are preparing to leave for the Persian Gulf as soon as the first week of January if ordered to do so, Pentagon sources say.
The surge deployment would serve as a show of force aimed at demonstrating that despite its occupation of Iraq, the U.S. could strike a troublesome Iran. The U.S. and the United Nations want to sanction Iran over its continued efforts to enrich uranium and what the U.S. says is continued furtive support for insurgents fighting in Iraq.
The Bremerton, Wash.-based Stennis, Carrier Air Wing 9 and the rest of the strike group have completed pre-deployment training and were scheduled to deploy in late January, officials said. A Pentagon source said the deployment could be moved up several weeks.
Gates predictably downplayed the connection to Iran:
“I don’t think it’s a response to anything anyone else has done,” he told reporters before leaving Baghdad.
“I think the message that we are sending to everyone, not just Iran, is that the United States is an enduring presence in this part of the world,” Gates told reporters. “We have been here for a long time. We will
be here for a long time and everybody needs to remember that – both our friends and those who might consider themselves our adversaries.”
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