The United States will send thousands more troops to the Middle East to bolster regional security
The United States will send “several thousand” troops to the Middle East to bolster Israel’s security and defense if needed, the Pentagon said Monday. The announcement comes after it emerged that Israel had already launched limited incursions on the border with Lebanon.
The additional force would increase the total number of troops in the region 43,000.
Pentagon spokesman Sabrina Singhhe told reporters that the increased military presence would include several squadrons of fighter and attack aircraft. U.S. officials said the total also includes a small number of additional troops to bolster the military presence.
Already on Sunday, the Secretary of Defense of the United States Lloyd Austinhe gave his authority to the military to strengthen its presence in the Middle East with “defensive” air support capabilities and put other forces on high alert.
“(Austin) increased the readiness of additional US forces to deploy, increasing our readiness to respond to a variety of contingencies,” said Pentagon spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder.
“Secretary Austin has made clear that if Iran, its partners or proxies use this moment to attack American personnel or interests in the region, the United States will take all necessary measures to defend our people,” Ryder added.
This happened after the recent attacks in Lebanon and the assassination of the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, a significant escalation of the war in the Middle East, this time between Israel and Hezbollah.
“That’s what they’ve informed us they’re currently doing, which they are limited traffic targeting Hezbollah infrastructure near the border,” a State Department spokesman said Matthew Miller.
Additional staff includes squadrons of F-15E, F-16 and F-22 fighter aircraft and A-10 attack aircraft, and the personnel necessary to support them. The planes were supposed to rotate and replace the squadrons that were already there. Instead, existing and new squadrons will remain in place to double the available air power.
On Sunday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that he was temporarily expanding the carrier strike group USS Abraham Lincoln and its air wing embarked in the region. The U.S. official said the extension would be about a month. Second aircraft carrier, USS Harry S. Trumanhe left Virginia last week and is headed to Europe. It will head to the Mediterranean and once again ensure the presence of two carriers in the wider region. It is expected to arrive in at least a week.
In the White House, the president Joe Biden On Monday, he said he was “more aware than you can imagine” of reports that Israel was planning a limited ground invasion of Lebanon after nearly a year of fighting with Hezbollah, and said he wanted an immediate ceasefire.
(With information from AP and Reuters)
