Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon is spending about $27 million a week to maintain the increased U.S. Navy presence in the Mediterranean Sea and Middle East region to keep watch over Syria and be prepared to strike if needed.
President Barack Obama told the nation he ordered the military to maintain its current posture to keep pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad and be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails.
The Navy has two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region and four destroyers and an amphibious warship in the eastern Mediterranean. One carrier group and one destroyer had been scheduled to leave but were told to stay.
Navy officials say it costs about $25 million a week for the carrier group and $2 million a week for each destroyer.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
