US Warships Head for Israel for Possible Evacuation of Americans?

• US warships head for Israel for possible evacuation of Americans! 
  by http://debka.com/ , 20 Nov 2012 
  Three amphibious warships with 2,500 Marines aboard back to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby off Israel’s shore in case they are needed to evacuate American citizens. The USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall, were sailing west of Gibraltar on their way to back to Norfolk, Virginia, when they were turned around.
  –
  debkafile: The United States have never before evacuated American citizens from Israel. The US notice does not say whether a possible evacuation would include the US forces posted in American bases in Israel. A mass evacuation would entail a Marine shore landing in order to lead the evacuees to the amphibious craft. The Iwo Jima is a helicopter carrier, while the New York, one of the newest vessels of its kind in the US Navy, is a primary class of amphibious transport dock. Although a decision to evacuate nationals was defined in the CNN report as a “remote contingency,” our sources stress that it is extreme enough to be taken only when a war situation is envisaged capable of endangering Americans.
  –
  read more!
  –
  The Navy Ordered Three Huge Assault Ships To Turn Around And Go Straight To  Israel ! 
  by Robert Johnson, http://www.businessinsider.com/ , 20 Nov 2012 
  Just settling in for the trans-Atlantic crossing that would bring them home  to the States for the holidays, the sailors and Marines aboard the Iwo  Jima Amphibious Ready Group got the call to turn around and head to  Israel.
  –
  The USS New York, USS Iwo Jima, and the USS Gunston Hall had all been  winding down six month deployments when the Pentagon ordered the group on  reserve to help Americans looking to get out of Israel in the coming  days.
  –
  Barbara  Starr at CNN reports one official said: “‘This is due diligence. It is  better to be prepared should there be a need … the ships would be used only  for assisting Americans and not for any combat role.”
  –
  Officials are also maintaining that an evacuation remains a remote  possibility, but this move underscores the seriousness with which the U.S. is  viewing the Israel/Gaza flare up. It also seems to imply that Washington either  knows something the public doesn’t, like the conflict could be set to escalate;  or in fact it knows just as little as everyone else, and wants to be prepared  regardless.
  –
  These ships all carry Marines and are designed to serve as floating hospitals  should the need arise.
  –
  read more!

end