Sorry you took it that way. Personally, I feel the same as CC on this one. Just ANOTHER example of a blunder by our current leadership. Is it Obama-bashing? Perhaps. But if it was another leader making just as many mistakes, I'm sure CC would be bashing him as well.
Certainly there are more carriers on there way. Keeping a carrier presence in that region has been a US strategy for quite a while, for very obvious reasons: to demonstrate our commitment to security in that region and to ensure critical lines of communication could never be closed or threatened.
It's now a matter of LEGITMACY on the world stage. By NOT turning the Stennis around and planting our flag rigth back in Iran's face, we have reduced OURS in the region while stregthening theirs (especially to their neighbors). A calculated risk on our part to ignore it, perhaps to stop the inevitable jitters on the world economy if we did ratchet up the threat a little.
The question becomes, was the loss of our legitimacy worth it? Debatable...
"Not Fair" to the sailors who now have to turn around? News flash, sailors, soldiers, airmen, marines, and coasties SERVE their country. Fairness on how they feel about that service NEVER comes before that service. Get used to it, this ain't the first time something like this happened.
Ultimately, and in MY OPINION ONLY, once the Iranians uttered thier threats, the Stennis should have turned arond and waited until the Lincoln and Vinson were on station. You want to negotiate from a position of strength, and usually the best way to do that is with your knee in their chest and your knife at their throat.