Now Eyeing a Longer Haul, the US Reshuffles Its Warships in the Mediterranean

In this photo obtained from the US Department of Defense, the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) sails in the Mediterranean Sea on December 31, 2023. (AFP photo/ US Department of Defense/ US Navy)
In this photo obtained from the US Department of Defense, the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) sails in the Mediterranean Sea on December 31, 2023. (AFP photo/ US Department of Defense/ US Navy)
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Now Eyeing a Longer Haul, the US Reshuffles Its Warships in the Mediterranean

In this photo obtained from the US Department of Defense, the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) sails in the Mediterranean Sea on December 31, 2023. (AFP photo/ US Department of Defense/ US Navy)
In this photo obtained from the US Department of Defense, the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan (LHD 5) sails in the Mediterranean Sea on December 31, 2023. (AFP photo/ US Department of Defense/ US Navy)

When attacks with missiles and drones surged in the Red Sea late last year, crewmembers of the USS Bataan worked round the clock to make sure they were shot down before reaching passing merchant vessels.

Weeks later, they are still perfecting that operation in training and simulations, along with a dozen other scenarios, despite moving north to the Mediterranean where commercial marine traffic is at little risk.

The US Navy is reshuffling its warship deployment in the Middle East to maintain dominance in the region – now eyeing the longer haul as concerns mount that Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza could set off a regional conflict.

An amphibious warship, the Bataan is a multi-deck assault vessel jammed full of armored vehicles and military hardware with a lower bay that can take on water to release landing craft directly into the sea.

The ship is now leading the United States’ task force in the eastern Mediterranean, following the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, which was sent home at the New Year.

The Bataan and two support ships, the USS Mesa Verde and USS Carter Hall, have a combined force of nearly 2,500 Marines and sailors.

Marine Lt. Col. Jeremy Hawkins, a senior planner on the task force, says the makeup of the multi-role naval force is ideal for the complex nature of the conflict and for related regional sources of tension.

“We’re able to operate really autonomously in international waters and airspace. And so it gives us a lot of freedom of operations,” he said. “We’re floating on a piece of America, wherever we’re at.”

As he spoke, a “jump jet” AV-8B Harrier roared off the deck overhead, launching a night flight designed to maintain readiness for pilots and support staff.

Now in its 15th week, the war in Gaza continues to pile tension onto multiple flashpoints in the wider region, many involving militant groups supported by Iran, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi militias in Yemen.

“The deployment of the USS Bataan to the eastern Med is meant to do two things,” said Gregory Aftandilian, a senior lecturer at the School of International Service, at the American University in Washington DC.

“It’s to deter Hezbollah from increasing its missile attacks against Israel, which has the potential to lead to a wider war, and to bolster the US naval presence in the Red Sea to hopefully deter the Houthis from launching more attacks on shipping in that body of water.”

The United States assembled a powerful concentration of naval forces in October, sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East after Hamas attacks in Israel triggered the ongoing offensive in Gaza.

The Bataan was sailing toward the eastern Mediterranean Friday after taking part in live-fire exercises with NATO-member Greece on the country’s mainland.

At sea for six months, crew members have had their deployment extended because of the crisis, the US military relying on the fast deployment skills of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in North Carolina, combined with the Navy.

That means snipers and demolition experts spend their days in close quarters with ICU doctors and intelligence officers.

They all live connected by a maze of windowless passageways, many using remote corners to carve out a workout space or using the incline of deck ramps to exercise.

Fourteen floors of living quarters and administrative areas are wrapped around a helicopter hanger and hospital positioned in the center of the 257-meter (843-foot) ship.

Attack helicopter pilot Marine Capt. Sam Peters says he hopes to return home soon to his home in Valdosta in the southern US state of Georgia but realizes his stay on the ship could again be extended.

“To be completely honest, we’re constantly training and constantly ready to respond to crises, I don’t think our mission has really changed,” he said. “I would say, the difference (after coming to Greece) is that the food is a little bit better.”



Trump Orders Investigation into Biden's Actions as President, Ratcheting Up Targeting of Predecessor

FILE PHOTO: WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: US President-elect Donald Trump greets US President Joe Biden as he arrives for inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: US President-elect Donald Trump greets US President Joe Biden as he arrives for inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Trump Orders Investigation into Biden's Actions as President, Ratcheting Up Targeting of Predecessor

FILE PHOTO: WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: US President-elect Donald Trump greets US President Joe Biden as he arrives for inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: US President-elect Donald Trump greets US President Joe Biden as he arrives for inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the US Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed his administration to investigate Joe Biden’s actions as president, alleging aides masked his predecessor’s “cognitive decline” and casting doubts on the legitimacy of his use of the autopen to sign pardons and other documents.

The order marked a significant escalation in Trump’s targeting of political adversaries and could lay the groundwork for arguments by the Republican that a range of Biden’s actions as president were invalid.

Biden responded in a statement Wednesday night: “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation, and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false.”

The Justice Department under Democratic and Republican administrations has recognized the use of an autopen to sign legislation and issue pardons for decades, Trump presented no evidence that Biden was unaware of the actions taken in his name, and the president’s absolute pardon power is enshrined in the US Constitution.

“This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history,” Trump wrote in a memo. “The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.”

Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington to handle the investigation.

It’s unclear how far Trump will push this effort, which would face certain legal challenges. But it reflects his fixation on Biden, who defeated him in 2020, an election that Trump never conceded and continues to falsely claim was rigged against him.

Trump frequently suggests that Biden was wrong to use an autopen, a mechanical device that replicates a person’s authentic signature. Although they've been used in the White House for decades, Trump claims that Biden's aides were usurping presidential authority.

Biden issued pardons for his two brothers and his sister shortly before leaving office, hoping to shield them from potential prosecution under Trump, who had promised retribution during last year’s campaign. Other pardon recipients included members of a congressional committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol.

Trump often suggests that his political opponents should be investigated, and he has directed the Justice Department to look into people who have angered him over the years. They include Chris Krebs, a former cybersecurity official who disputed Trump’s claims of a stolen election in 2020, and Miles Taylor, a former Department of Homeland Security official who wrote an anonymous op-ed sharply critical of the president in 2018.

Meanwhile, House Oversight Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, a Republican, requested transcribed interviews with five Biden aides, alleging they had participated in a “cover-up” that amounted to “one of the greatest scandals in our nation’s history.”

“These five former senior advisors were eyewitnesses to President Biden’s condition and operations within the Biden White House,” Comer said in a statement. “They must appear before the House Oversight Committee and provide truthful answers about President Biden’s cognitive state and who was calling the shots.”

Interviews were requested with White House senior advisers Mike Donilon and Anita Dunn, former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, former deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed and Steve Ricchetti, a former counselor to the president.

Comer reiterated his call for Biden's physician, Kevin O’Connor, and former senior White House aides Annie Tomasini, Anthony Bernal, Ashley Williams and Neera Tanden to appear before the committee. He warned subpoenas would be issued this week if they refuse to schedule voluntary interviews.

“I think that people will start coming in the next two weeks,” Comer told reporters. He added that the committee would release a report with its findings, “and we'll release the transcribed interviews, so it'll be very transparent.”

Democrats have dismissed the effort as a distraction.

“Chairman Comer had his big shot in the last Congress to impeach Joe Biden and it was, of course, a spectacular flop,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the Maryland Democrat who served as the ranking member on the oversight committee in the previous Congress. “And now he's just living off of a spent dream. It's over. And he should give up the whole thing.”

Republicans on the committee are eager to pursue the investigation.

“The American people didn't elect a bureaucracy to run the country,” said Rep. Brandon Gill, a freshman Republican from Texas. “I think that the American people deserve to know the truth and they want to know the truth of what happened.”

The Republican inquiry so far has focused on the final executive actions of Biden's administration, which included the issuing of new federal rules and presidential pardons that they claim may be invalid.

Comer cited the book “Original Sin” by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson, which details concerns and debates inside the White House and Democratic Party over Biden's mental state and age.

In the book, Tapper and Thompson wrote, “Five people were running the country, and Joe Biden was at best a senior member of the board.”

Biden and members of his family have vigorously denied the book's claims.

“This book is political fairy smut for the permanent, professional chattering class,” said Naomi Biden, the former president's granddaughter.

Biden withdrew from the presidential race last summer after a debate against Trump in which he appeared to lose his train of thought multiple times, muttered inaudible answers and misnamed different government programs.

The disastrous debate performance pushed questions about his age and mental acuity to the forefront, ultimately leading Biden to withdraw from the presidential race. He was replaced on the ticket by Kamala Harris, who lost the election to Trump.