U.S. Dispatches Marines and Warships to Middle East
Officials said 2,500 Marines from 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in California and the U.S.S. Boxer amphibious ready group will go in April to relieve Marines already deployed in the Persian Gulf.
Officials said 2,500 Marines from 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit in California and the U.S.S. Boxer amphibious ready group will go in April to relieve Marines already deployed in the Persian Gulf.
The NATO mission, created in 2018, trained and advised Iraqi forces. Iraq is among the countries facing retaliatory attacks from the U.S.-Israeli war.
The president was cagey about his plans for Iran. He confirmed the Pentagon was seeking $200 billion to support a protracted war effort while also claiming it would be over soon.
President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel suggested that the war with Iran could end soon, but that there were still more attacks ahead.
The move comes after President Trump sharply criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not supporting his initial military strikes on Iran.
The request, which the White House has not yet submitted to Congress, is already encountering some resistance.
A mission to seize or destroy Iran’s nuclear material would be one of the riskiest military operations in modern American history.
President Trump has faced mounting criticism over the U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran from allies and even members of his own administration.
Barraged by Iranian attacks and questioning the value of security ties with the United States, nations in the Gulf have turned to Ukraine, Australia and Italy for help.
R.A.F. Fairford was the site of repeated antiwar protests during the Iraq war in 2003. Now it is being used again as a base for U.S. bombing missions in the Middle East.