The U.S. Navy's USS Iwo Jima (LHD-7) departed from dock in Frederiksted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, earlier this morning, as U.S. Southern Command announced military deployments supporting Operation Southern Spear to disrupt illicit drug trafficking, according to X posts shared over the past hour by @Southcom and @SA_Defensa. @Southcom stated that U.S. forces are "postured, ready, lethal" in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility for DeptofWar-directed operations and President Trump's priorities to protect the homeland. @SA_Defensa reported the USS Iwo Jima's departure with a photo by Matthew Flynn, quoting an earlier post noting an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer joining the vessel at dock in Frederiksted. These developments occur amid ongoing U.S. military actions in the Caribbean, including closed-door congressional briefings this morning on strikes against drug boats, as reported earlier today by C-SPAN, and the U.S. Treasury's designation of Colombia's Clan del Golfo as a transnational terrorist organization, according to FaytuksNetwork.
