Friday, May 27, 2005

Today President Bush will deliver the commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy. As AP notes, the last time he spoke there was at the commencement four years ago.

In that earlier speech, on May 25, 2001 (there's a transcript here and another one here), the President declared that the world was peaceful, but that naval deployments were necessary to help keep the peace. Four specific deployments were deemed worthy of mention:

Today, nearly one-third of our naval forces are forward-deployed overseas. The USS Constellation carrier battle group and its 10,000 sailors are plying the waters of the Persian Gulf, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.

Another 3,800 sailors and Marines stand guard nearby with the Boxer amphibious ready group, deterring any mischief Saddam might contemplate.
The USS Enterprise is in the Mediterranean, along with the Kearsarge amphibious ready group. They're supporting NATO efforts to maintain peace in the Balkans and deterring those who would break the peace. And in the Pacific, the USS Kitty Hawk is on call, ready, if needed, to defend America's interests.


Four deployments were mentioned. Two of them involved Iraq. This was on May 25, 2001. Anyone else find that curious?

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