Trump's Iran Strategy Could Open Pacific Security Gap, Some Experts Say

Newsmax Wires /NEWSMAX 

 

President Donald Trump's decision to maintain a major U.S. military presence in the Middle East could create a temporary security gap in the western Pacific, as the aircraft carrier USS George Washington heads from Japan to the Middle East to relieve the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Axios reported Monday that the George Washington's deployment is expected to leave the United States without an aircraft carrier in the western Pacific at a time when China and other U.S. adversaries in the region are increasing their military activity.

Temporary gaps in carrier coverage are not unprecedented, but the move highlights the competing demands placed on the U.S. military by the war with Iran and America's longstanding security commitments in the Indo-Pacific.

Mark Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Axios that China could use the opening to increase its presence around U.S. allies such as Taiwan and Japan, although he said a full...Read more here.