HARRIS: Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with news of what looks like at least more and more these days, a necessary move, Barbara, of a U.S. aircraft carrier closer at least, to Afghanistan</s>BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Tony. A quick update for everyone. The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, you may remember it as the "mission accomplished" carrier that President Bush stood on the deck of, commemorating the success in Iraq, that he talked about. That carrier now on the move. U.S. officials confirming the Lincoln yesterday, moved into the North Arabian Sea out of the Persian Gulf. And why? It's for Afghanistan. By taking -- look at the map. By taking it into the North Arabian Sea, that is now going to allow the air wing of F-18s on board the Lincoln to conduct patrols and air strikes over Afghanistan. It puts the carrier right into position for that and with the rising violence in Afghanistan and the uptick in combat operations there, that's what U.S. military officials have been looking for. This now gives them that capability. The Lincoln has moved and is expected to stay in place for some weeks to come -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: Can we also assume that you need more -- the Lincoln more in Afghanistan than you do in Iraq right now?</s>STARR: These days, that is the case. Absolutely. The U.S. is looking for more air power to use in Afghanistan. Combat operations certainly growing there and of course, it was just a few days ago that we learned the Pentagon had approved a plan to keep about 3,000 Marines in southern Afghanistan, 30 days longer than they expected. And of course, the plan in place now, Tony, is for even more U.S. troops to go to Afghanistan after the first of the year. So we're beginning to see the pieces put into place to keep that pace of operations going in Afghanistan for some time to come.</s>HARRIS: Very, very interesting. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us. Barbara, good to see you, thanks.</s>STARR: Sure.</s>COLLINS: So we have a very cute rescue to show you. How did this seal wander so far off course? We'll show you the happy ending up next.
U.S. Aircraft Carrier Moves to Afghanistan