Carrier for Afghanistan shifts to Africa

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jan 9, 1:52 PM ET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Shifting a U.S. aircraft carrier and its 60 warplanes from the Afghanistan war to Somalia has diverted the Navy from bleak winter fighting with the Taliban to an intelligence-led hunt for terror suspects in the Horn of Africa.

The Navy says aircraft from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower are flying regular intelligence missions over Somalia, playing a critical role monitoring the country's 1,880-mile coast and patrolling the sea that surrounds it to prevent suspects from escaping.

Three other U.S. warships had already taken posts off Somalia, part of the return of U.S. military forces to a country it fled in 1994 after losing 18 soldiers in gritty urban combat, portrayed in the book and film "Black Hawk Down."

"There's a lot of water to cover and with four ships, that doesn't always do it," said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charlie Brown of the Bahrain-based Fifth Fleet. "But the air assets on the Eisenhower can extend the capabilities of those ships."

The re-tasking of the Eisenhower came as U.S. aircraft launched air raids in southern Somalia, trying to kill al-Qaida suspects in the first overt American military action there since the 1990s.
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