Andrew Fassbach: Mother Nature is a serial killer. She wants to get caught, she leaves bread crumbs, she leaves clues... Mother nature knows how to disguise her weakness as strength.
Jurgen Warmbrunn: Most people don't believe something can happen until it already has. That's not stupidity or weakness, that's just human nature.
Gerry Lane: If you can fight, fight. Be prepared for anything. Our war has just begun.
Suggested correction: Can't speak to the second half of your paragraph (should really post as 3 separate mistakes) but as for the first, a range of 3500 miles, aircraft such as the kc-135 exist and aerial refueling is fairly common place. Considering it's a mission supported by the acting UN Secretary General to stop a world crisis, resources could have been diverted for refueling.
The initial launch from the carrier is a C-130 which can do this (if empty, minimal fuel, has the full length of the flight deck and the carrier is steaming full ahead into the wind). It then morphs into an AN-12 and back to a Hercules. They make the point that this small fleet is what is known to remain of allied forces so not sure where any tanker support will come from. Many movies have ridiculous range issues with aircraft anyway.