Trump's Caribbean Surge Costs Billions; US Strikes ISIS

U.S. Military Operations in Caribbean and Syria Dominate Headlines

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has been involved in significant operations in both the Caribbean and Syria, with costs mounting in the former and airstrikes targeting ISIS in the latter. While the Trump administration initially touted a swift operation in the Caribbean, the financial implications of the military presence there are becoming clearer. Simultaneously, the U.S. military has launched a series of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria.

According to Fortune, the U.S. military's posture in the Caribbean is costing billions of dollars. Calculations show the operational price tag of deployed ships reached over $20 million a day at its peak from mid-November to mid-January. The operation, which involved the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, was initially presented as a low-cost, concise mission. The operation involved about 60 special forces troops descending from helicopters into Caracas, fighting off security guards, grabbing their quarry, and being airlifted back to a U.S. warship.

In Syria, the U.S. military reported a series of strikes against Islamic State group targets in retaliation for a December ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter. U.S. Central Command announced that American aircraft conducted 10 strikes against more than 30 IS targets between February 3 and Thursday, hitting weapons storage facilities and other infrastructure. This information was reported by both NPR News and NPR Politics.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio delivered a keynote speech at the annual Munich Security Conference, where European stakeholders were reassured but remained wary, according to NPR Politics.