PIECES FALLING INTO PLACE …
At least one American warship has been granted permission by Turkey to pass through the Bosphorus over the next forty-eight hours – although it’s not immediately clear whether the ship in question is the U.S.S. George H.W. Bush.
Wait … hold up: We named a friggin’ aircraft carrier after that guy?
Yup … a $6.2 billion one.
Sheesh …
Anyway, the Bush (officially known as CVN-77) is currently in Piraeus, Greece – or at least it was yesterday. It may soon be headed toward the Black Sea – where it will ostensibly firm up the American military presence in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
The Bosphorus – a.k.a. the “Istanbul Strait” – separates Europe and Asia. It also separates the Black Sea from the Sea of Marmara, which connects to the Aegean and the broader Mediterranean.
The U.S.S. Taylor – a frigate – is currently at the Turkish Black Sea port of Samsun. It was one of two American warships dispatched to the region to assist in providing security for the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but it has remained there due to damage sustained after it ran aground on February 14.
American presidents moving warships into hostile areas is nothing new. Former U.S. President George W. Bush did it in 2008 when Russia stepped up its aggression in Georgia.
We oppose such movements. America has no compelling national interest in the Black Sea – and therefore no excuse for being there. In fact dispatching military assets to this region – at this time – is needlessly provocative. America’s Navy is not and should not be a “global force for good,” as its taxpayer-funded propaganda proclaims, but rather a force devoted exclusively to defending America.
We have no problem with government building $6.2 billion carriers to protect our homeland – and compelling national interests abroad – but nothing about the Ukraine crisis rises to that level. Or anything resembling that level.
America is not the world’s policeman. And even if it wanted to be, it can’t afford to pay the costs associated with the job. In fact the sad truth is America has lost all credibility when it comes to “fighting for freedom” – at home or abroad.
34 comments
What’s with the George H.W. Bush hate? He pwned Iraq in Persian Gulf I. Seems like they can name an aircraft carrier after him.
Only one-term president to have a carrier named after him who wasn’t assasinated.
Gerald Ford was not assassinated.
No, but he was eaten by wolves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkhwiuRbOEE
Neither was he a “one term President”.
It is true he did not serve a complete term (4 years) but it was only one term.
It is true he did not serve a complete term (4 years) but it was only one term.
So is this like Barry’s Nobel Peace Prize?
Sure glad Fits isn’t running the White House but then he can’t do anything about Columbia either.
We’ve already spent the 6.2 billion. Might as well use it.
IT IS NOT THERE TO START CRAP WITH RUSSIA ITS A FREAKING PORT CALL. STOP WITH THIS RHETORIC. They are going to relieve my husband’s ship soon. They are not going to fight Russia. Darn it! This is public knowledge. It’s going to the 5th fleet area.
Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs? Why so angry?
I have a question, do you have a service member deployed right now? As a part of this, if not then it doesn’t directly concern you does it?
I guess if you were a service members spouse deployed on one of these ships then you would have a right to be angry, especially if it’s already an extended deployment. Who’s insane here? That person, or YOU.
How dare you bully a service members spouse? PIG.
Well “FITNEWS”, you’ve officially made an ass of yourself. Before you write an article bashing the military that defends your rights to author such an article, maybe you should actually do some research. That ship isn’t there in response to the Ukraine drama. That ship was scheduled to deploy on that course long before this conflict had arisen. It does in fact take quite some time to plan the departure of 5,000 plus American troops. Just sayin’.
and you expected something different from Sic Willie?
Will is just following Rupert Murdoch model. Create the news you want to report. Fox News, or should I say Fake News, has made a fortune doing that . There are always plenty of fools willing to pay to hear what they want to hear.
If Fox does it what makes you think the other news organizations don’t do the same thing for the other fools to hear what they want?
Easy, you watch the reports. The Fake News Network and MSNBC are all commentary. They provide very little real news, and that is the reason their viewers are generally misinformed on most things.
So it’s just Fox and MSNBC, OK if you say so. I learned long before cable news and the internet that all news organizations have a bias.
Truth is you just dont like the news they’re reporting
The photo of the aircraft carrier is misleading. Aircraft carriers cannot transit the Bosporus (for alumni of SC public schools, those are the straits in Turkey connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean) in accordance with the Montreux Convention of 1936. That is why the Soviets had to build multi-task ships designated as “Heavy Aviation Cruisers,” instead of true aircraft carriers. The Turks still control transit of the straits in strict compliance with the convention.
He was a Naval Aviator and the President of the United States, why wouldn’t you name an aircraft carrier after him.
I hear the Army is naming a specific type of Latrine Cleaning Truck after Obama.
Oh, so America can’t have any interests in the BLACK Sea, huh? I see how it is!
Russia won’t give a shit. I really hope we don’t try to start something, though. Geeze…
If this is going to be Fits position, don’t expect Ukrainian girls to be buying any more ads on this site.
George H. W. Bush was President, Vice-President, Congressman, Director of The CIA, Ambassador to China, and an 18 year old Naval Aviator in WWII. You’re what? Seriously – stfu.
“….We named a friggin’ aircraft carrier after that guy?”
Bush was born into… a wealthy family in Massachusetts but shortly after his birth, the family moved to Connecticut. Not unexpectedly, he attended some prestigious private schools but what you probably didn’t know was that he was the captain of both the varsity baseball and soccer teams at Phillips Academy in addition to holding the expected elected positions like president of the student body.
Bush graduated from Phillips Academy in 1942 and in deference to the war going on, joined the Navy. There is some question as to exactly how old his recruiter thought the young Bush was but the fact is that after he completed a 10 month OCS and flight training school he was commissioned into the US Naval Reserve and placed on active duty at age 18 years 361 days, making him the youngest officer in the Navy at that point.
Bush would be assigned to Carrier Air Group VT 51 (V has something to do with Airplanes in the Navy and the T is for Torpedoes) as the photo officer (he was responsible for planning photo reconnaissance missions, not taking snap shots). He was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade in 1943 (what the Army calls First Lieutenant) and began flying the Grumman TBM Avenger as the Pilot in Command.
On 2 September 1944, while conducting a raid on Chichijima, Bush’s Avenger was hit by antiaircraft fire. Despite the aircraft being on fire, Bush flew away from Chichijima for several minutes hoping to avoid capture by the Japanese. The Navy would station “lifeguard submarines” a couple of miles off the islands they were attacking for just such eventualities. Bush was able to safely bail out along with either Radioman John Delaney or Lt(JG) William White – neither White nor Delaney were ever heard from again. The design of the Avenger made it extremely difficult to bail out of.
After floating around in the ocean for 4 hours, the USS Finback (the “lifeguard sub” that day) rescued him and returned him to VT 51. In all, he would fly 58 missions in the TBM with VT 51. When his unit was rotated to the States, he was assigned as an instructor in a training wing because of his experience. After his stint in the training unit, he was assigned to VT-153, in Michigan to prepare to deploy back to the war zone. Like almost every other junior officer in the USNR, Bush was honorably discharged in September shortly after the Japanese surrendered.
So what’s a rich kid, war hero to do? (I forgot to mention that Bush earned a DFC and 3 Air Medals) Well in Bush’s case, he married Ms. Barbara Pierce 6 weeks to the day after returning home and then he called Yale and asked if his acceptance was still good (he had been accepted to Yale before he graduated from Phillips). Based on his performance at Phillips he was placed in an accelerated program and was able to graduate in two and a half years but the rest of the story blew my mind. In addition to rushing DKE and ultimately becoming the chapter president, being selected for induction into the “evil, world controlling,” Skull and Bones and graduating early, Bush played 1st base and captained the Yale Baseball team, leading them to back to back College World Series appearances (Yale was the runner up both years, being beaten by California in 47 and USC(West) in 48.
Oh, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in economics.
After graduating Bush decided to strike out on his own and headed to Texas against Prescott Bush’s wishes. He started out as a sales clerk at an oil drilling supply firm. But after 3 years of that and, he quit and started Bush-Overby Oil Development Company. Three years later he would co-found Zapata Petroleum Corporation. His focus was primarily the Permian Basin of Texas but Zapata would spin off Zapata Offshore and Bush was named president in 1954. By 1966, Bush was a multimillionaire and despite the assertions of some, he made most of it the hard way, he earned it.
Then there’s all that political stuff…
Well, he had a head start, for sure, but I don’t hold that against him. I would venture to say most kids that have a head start don’t accomplish even a tiny bit of what he did. It all goes back to the influence of the parents and their work/study ethic. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of that in good ol’ SC these days.
How much was he helped along? Who’s to say? Only those closest to him know, but you have to be impressed by his resume. There’s some action there that speaks much louder than words.
Where is the list of accomplishments for big O or even for Bill & Hill? They can’t even compare. Oh, that’s right, big O was a community organizer for acorn. Hill & Bill who knows? How much were they helped along and who did it?
I’d take GHWB any day over big O or the C’s.
“…I’d take GHWB any day over big O or the C’s…
Amen and amen.
For many many years it was convention that warships were never named for living individuals. This changed with the USS CARL VINSON (CVN-70) in 1980. For those too young to remember, Vinson was a congressman prominent in naval affairs for decades. Since then, the navy, in its relentless quest for more and more money and influence in DC, has forsaken the great historic ships and naval heroes of our past in order to curry favor with politicians. To be fair, G.H.W. Bush was the commander-in-chief and a bona fide naval aviator in wartime and, as such, he earned the recognition. But where in the U.S. Navy are the USS HOEL, USS ERNEST E. EVANS, USS JOHNSTON, USS LANGLEY, USS RANGER , or USS HORNET? There no political “upside” to those names.
While what you say is mostly correct, Vallejo and Bolivar were not “naval heroes of our past”. They were not even US citizens. Similar arguments could perhaps be made for Lee and Jackson
I didn’t say all ships were named for naval heroes. Some were named for foreigners, such as USS COMTE DE GRASSE, USS HAROLD E HOLT, USS WINSTON CHURCHILL and USS SIMON BOLIVAR. We sent to sea for many years SSBNs named USS ROBERT E LEE and USS STONEWALL JACKSON. Mariano G. Vallejo was a founder of the California Republic and was certainly an American citizen.
****…..meanwhile over in the Post and Courier newsroom….***
Brian Hicks: Get a load of this article on War Gods……..
Warren WIse: Wow, Brian, you sure seem like your still loaded from Happy Hour at the Warehouse last night.
Renee Dudley: Yeah… and Terri Moore seems loaded in the comment section too……too bad she was not hanging with us last night. We wonder why she reads FItsnews instead of the Post and Courier……
Brian Hicks: Maybe more Fifth Fleet “rookies” read FITSNEWS than the Post and Courier. One thing is for sure….there is more “White space” on FIts than on the Post and I had to bum 3 dollars for a PBR last night…….