If the Tarawa was still floating, and able to move under it's own power, it absolutely would have been the flagship, even if it's radios, radar, etc was destroyed. It doesn't take much to move a few radios aboard and position some radar vehicles on deck. The ship itself has way too much flexibility, even damaged, to ignore.
So it's far more likely it was out of commission in the latter half of 2000 than passed over in favour of an old destroyer.
If it was floating and useful, the US XI Corps wouldn't be cut off and could have been withdrawn - provided there were still landing craft left over from the earlier offensive to take the troops and their equipment off the beaches (there's no suitable ports between Germany and Gdansk).
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If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives.
Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect"
Mors ante pudorem
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