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US-MIDEAST-MILITARY-DEFENCE
US mulling 14,000 more troops for Mideast: report
WASHINGTON, Dec 5, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The United States is weighing sending
up to 14,000 more troops to the Middle East in the face of a perceived threat
from Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
The mulled deployment would include “dozens” more ships and double the
number of troops added to the US force in the region since the beginning of
this year, the Journal said, citing unnamed US officials.
It said President Donald Trump could make a decision on the troop boost as
early as this month.
A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the report to AFP.
The move would come after a series of attacks on shipping vessels and a
drone and missile attack on Saudi oil installations in September blamed on
Iran.
Washington has already ratcheted up its military presence in the Gulf and
expanded economic sanctions on the country, elevating tensions across the
region.
In mid-November the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sailed through the
Strait of Hormuz in a show of force aimed at reassuring allies worried about
the Iran threat.
In October Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced that two fighter
squadrons and additional missile defense batteries were being sent to Saudi
Arabia, for a total of about 3,000 new troops.
Earlier Wednesday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the country was
willing to return to the negotiating table over its nuclear program if the
United States first drops sanctions, which have hampered the country’s
economy and may have contributed to recent domestic turmoil sparked by fuel
price hikes.
Speaking at a defense conference in Manama, Bahrain on November 23,
General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, said the US does
not have all the resources it needs to cover the Middle East region.
“There is a lot of water to cover. Simply put, we don’t have sufficient
resources to be where we want to be in the right numbers all the time,” he
told the annual Manama Dialogue on regional security.
But McKenzie rebuffed criticism that Washington has been disengaging from
the region.
“We have a carrier in the theatre, we’ve reinforced Saudi Arabia,” he
said.
“So I’m not sure I would agree with the narrative of abandonment or a
narrative of walking away.”
“Clearly the United States has different global priorities and this is
probably not the highest global priority, but I think it remains a very
important thing for the United States,” he added.
BSS/AFP/FI/0822 hrs