From Military.com:
"Lawmakers Want Answers on Report
US May Send 14,000 More Troops to Middle East”
Lawmakers called on Defense
Secretary Mark Esper to clarify whether the Pentagon is considering sending as
many as 14,000 U.S. troops to counter Iranian threats in the Middle East. A
Wall Street Journal report, published Wednesday, said the Defense Department is
weighing an increase in force posture, but Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah
tweeted that the article was inaccurate. "To be clear, the reporting is
wrong," Farah said Wednesday. "The U.S. is not considering sending
14,000 additional troops to the Middle East." But lawmakers want to be
sure. During a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, Republican
Sens. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Josh Hawley of Missouri repeatedly
grilled Under Secretary of Defense for Policy John Rood about the news report. "Are
you considering sending more troops to the Middle East?" Blackburn asked. "We're
concerned about the threats that we're seeing," Rood said, adding that
Pentagon officials plan to brief lawmakers next week in a closed-door session
about Iran's activities in the region. When again pressed by Blackburn on
whether the Pentagon is considering sending additional troops, Rood responded:
"Yes." "Is 14,000 the correct number or is there a lesser
number?" she asked. "[Esper] has not made any decisions," Rood
said. "[He] continues to evaluate with the advice of others what the
appropriate number of forces to be deployed to the Middle East is. … Based on
what we're seeing with ... the threat picture, it is possible we would need to
adjust our force posture." However, Hawley was dissatisfied with the
answer, asking for a yes or no response. Rood reiterated that the Pentagon has
not made a decision and frequently reassesses troop numbers. But Hawley
defended The Wall Street Journal report, saying it is clear the Pentagon is
indeed considering the action. "What you're telling me now is that [Farah]
misspoke," Hawley said. "I think at this point it would be helpful to
hear from [Esper] on this issue, and I'd like to hear from him today on this
issue." He added, "Some clarification is in order, and I'd like to
have it in public, because now the Pentagon has made multiple, public
contradictory statements." The point of contention lies with how many
troops are needed to deter Iran's antagonistic actions in the Middle East at a
time when DoD officials have made clear that the Pentagon's focus should turn
to aggressors such as Russia in China, as part of the National Defense Strategy
(NDS). President Donald Trump has repeatedly said his administration's vision
is to reduce the U.S. troop presence in the Middle East, especially in
Afghanistan, focusing instead on counterterrorism and peace negotiations with a
smaller footprint in the region. Since May, roughly 14,000 troops have deployed
for the counter-Iran mission. "We've heard a lot from Pentagon leaders
about prioritizing China and Russia," Senate Armed Services Committee
Chairman Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, said in a statement Thursday. "But
with 14,000 troops deployed to the Middle East since May, we must ask if the
urgent is once again outweighing the important. I'd like to hear from the
department about how it is prioritizing China and Russia in new ways since the
NDS came out. I'd also like to hear more about achieving a 'more
resource-sustainable approach' in the Middle East [as] called for in the
NDS." The Trump administration announced May 5 that it was sending the
aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and a B-52 Stratofortress bomber task force to
the region as part of a force buildup. Since then, U.S. troops have reopened
the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia's east central desert, which had
been in disuse since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In October, Esper announced
that the DoD would begin another increased rotation, sending two fighter
squadrons, an Air Expeditionary Wing, two Patriot missile batteries, and one
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as THAAD, to act as a force
stabilizer -- bringing the number of additional troops who have had deployments
authorized or extended since September to 3,000. During an Oct. 11 press
briefing, Esper stressed that there were additional military units on alert
ready for these regional missions "if necessary." This is "to
send a message to the Iranians, 'Do not strike another sovereign state, do not
threaten American interests, American forces,' or we will respond," he
said. "Do not mistake our restraint for weakness. If you will, you will
regret that," Esper added. Following the hearing, Farah issued a new
statement regarding the potential deployment. "As discussed in the hearing
today, we are constantly evaluating the threat situation around the world and
considering our options,” Farah said. “We adjust our force posture and troop
levels based on adversary action and the dynamic security situation. “Secretary
Esper spoke to Chairman Inhofe this morning and reaffirmed that we are not
considering sending 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East at this
time," she added.
^ It does seem the Trump, the
State Department and the Pentagon are trying to “sneak” thousands upon
thousands of American troops into the Middle East without the US or the world
knowing about it. If there is a threat in the Middle East (or anywhere in the
world) then the American people deserve to know about it – especially if we are
sending American men and women to those places to risk their lives. ^
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