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 @ISIDEWITHNewsMarinesMilitaryPentagonDaily DiscussionAirstrikesIsraelAssaultLebanon•••3mos ago

U.S. Military Moves Military Assets Closer To Lebanon

The Pentagon is moving U.S. military assets closer to Israel and Lebanon to be ready to evacuate Americans as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, according to three U.S. defense officials and a former U.S. official familiar with the plans.

The USS Wasp, an amphibious assault ship, and Marines from the 24th Expeditionary Unit, which is special operations capable, moved into the Mediterranean on Wednesday to join the dock landing ship USS Oak Hill and another ship in their amphibious ready group, according to the Marine Corps. The Wasp will operate in the eastern Mediterranean to be ready for a Military Assisted Departure and other missions, the officials said.

The Wasp and the Marine Expeditionary Unit are also intended to project military power and be a deterrent to regional escalation, according to a U.S. official familiar with the plans.

The move comes as tensions continue to mount and cross-border fire increases between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that Israel is going to carry out airstrikes and a possible ground offensive in Lebanon in the coming weeks, the officials said.

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 @ISIDEWITHasked…3mos3MO

What are your thoughts on the potential impact of a larger military presence on the existing tensions between countries?

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‘Biblical devastation’ in North Carolina towns flooded by hurricane

Towns throughout western North Carolina, including Swannanoa, were transformed overnight by the massive storm. Muddy floodwaters lifted homes from their foundations. Landslides and overflowing rivers severed the only way in and out of small mountain communities. Rescuers said they were struggling to respond to the high number of emergency calls. Anxious relatives took to Facebook to search for loved ones they hadn’t heard from.“This is looking to be Buncombe County’s own Hurricane Katrina,” said Avril Pinder, the manager of the county, which includes Asheville.The death toll grew throughout the Southeast as the scope of Helene’s devastation came into clearer view. At least 49 people had been killed in five states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. By early counts, South Carolina suffered the greatest loss of life, registering at least 19 deaths. Georgia has reported 11 deaths; Florida, 11; North Carolina, 7; and Virginia, 1.The toll from the storm is likely to rise. Taylor Jones, Buncombe County’s director of emergency management, said there had been multiple fatalities there, though he declined to provide exact figures. He said officials were resorting to their “mass fatality plan” and trying to notify relatives, a process complicated by service outages.Officials asked anyone looking for friends or family members to fill out a form that county leaders will use to try and locate the missing. In Asheville, authorities said there were 60 people unaccounted for.

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