What a week so far. Iraq has met no benchmarks, the Senate argues all day regarding the Webb amendment to support troops having enough time between deployments, Fredo is again shown to be a total liar and nothing is done about it, Michael Moore bitchslaps CNN, former surgeon general says he was muzzled, the White House is in panic mode, Liebermann says Iran has all but declared war on the U.S., McCain is as delusional as ever, we send another carrier to the Gulf, U.S. troops continue to die, a Republican senator uses the services of hookers but found God and was forgiven and Chertoff gets gas and thinks it’s a sign we’re going to be attacked by terrorists. And it’s only Tuesday.

From Reuters:

The U.S. Navy said on Tuesday it had sent a third aircraft carrier to its Fifth Fleet area of operations, which includes waters close to Iran, whose row with the West over its nuclear plans has stoked regional tensions.

The carrier will join two aircraft carriers already in the area, which recently gave the U.S. Navy its biggest presence in the Gulf since the Iraq war in 2003, a Navy spokeswoman said.

“(The carrier) Enterprise provides navy power to counter the assertive, disruptive and coercive behaviour of some countries, as well as support our soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan,” a U.S. Navy statement said.

In May, a flotilla of U.S. warships sailed through the narrowest point in the Gulf to hold exercises off Iran’s coast in a major show of force.

Tension over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions has raised regional fears of a military confrontation.

“These operations are not specifically aimed at Iran … We consider this time unprecedented in terms of the amount on insecurity and instability in the region,” Navy spokeswoman Denise Garcia said, citing Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan.

One of the Fifth Fleet’s carriers was moored off the coast of India earlier this month. The Navy does not comment on its ships’ future movements.

The Fifth Fleet’s area of operations includes the Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean.