United States is Deploying More Troops to the Middle East As Tensions Between Hezbollah and Israel Mount
Jose Nino
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On September 23, 2024, the United States Defense Department announced that the United States has deployed additional military units to the Middle East as a response to an uptick in violence between Israel and Hezbollah.
Major General Pat Ryder, a press secretary for the Pentagon, would not reveal how many additional forces would be deployed or what kind of mission they would be on. The US currently has roughly 40,000 troops stationed in the Middle East.
On September 23, the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman, two Navy destroyers and a cruiser sailed from Norfolk, Virginia en route to the Sixth Fleet area in Europe on a routine deployment.
“In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region,” Ryder stated. “But for operational security reasons, I’m not going to comment on or provide specifics.”
This latest deployment followed after Israeli forces carried out strikes against targets inside Lebanon that resulted in the deaths of hundreds and as Israel is preparing to carry out additional operations.
On September 23, 2024, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanese civilians in a video message to evacuate their homes before the Jewish state launched widespread aerial attacks. Netanyahu sent out this message as Israeli aircraft launched airstrikes against alleged Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon.
The State Department has issued warnings to Americans to flee Lebanon as the prospect of a regional war increases significantly.
“Due to the unpredictable nature of ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and recent explosions throughout Lebanon, including Beirut, the U.S. Embassy urges U.S. citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” the State Department warned on September 21.
Ryder did not indicate if the additional forces deployed might facilitate the evacuation of American citizens should the situation necessitate it. There is currently a Marine amphibious ready group in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit on deck, which many security experts believe is ready to help out with an evacuation if necessary.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was on the phone with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the past weekend as he urged for a cease-fire and a dialing down of tensions in the region, Ryder noted.
“Given the tensions, given the escalation, as I highlighted, there is the potential for a wider regional conflict. I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s a dangerous situation,” Ryder added.
US forces in the Middle East have the aim of defending Israel and safeguard American and allied personnel and assets. Navy warships are spread out across the Middle East, spanning the
Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Oman, with Air Force and Navy fighter jets strategically based at multiple locations to be better prepared to counter any attacks.
The US is clearly Israel’s lapdog here. The Middle East is a region rife with tension that is no longer of major strategic interest to the US, especially during a time when the US’s southern border with Mexico is collapsing. Israel, which is the most advanced and wealthiest country in the region, should fight its own wars and assume its own geopolitical risks.
The US has too many problems to be getting itself mired in another country’s geopolitical beefs.
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