According to the Pentagon, they are sending an extra 300 troops to the Middle East because of the growing number of attacks on U.S. sites and the start of a new war involving Israel and Hamas.
Air Force Brig. General Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s Press Secretary, stated at a conference, “I am able to announce that we have decided to send 300 extra soldiers to the U.S. Central Command area from home bases across the continental United States.”
As Ryder explained, the troops won’t be sent to Israel. Instead, they will help with “regional deterrence operations” and “further boost U.S. force defense capabilities.”
“These extra troops are going to supply capabilities and equip forces presently in the region with communications, explosive ordinance disposal, and a number of other support tools,” he stated, referring to U.S. troops that are currently in the Middle East.
The 300 additional soldiers are in addition to the 900 that the Pentagon said would be sent last week.
Among those 900 forces were batteries from Fort Bliss, Texas, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, Fort Liberty, North Carolina, Patriot and Avenger batteries, and related air defense headquarters elements from Fort Bliss and Fort Cavazos, Texas, as well as a terminal high-altitude area defense (THAAD) battery.
According to Ryder, those troops were not going to be sent to Israel either. Instead, they were going to “support regional deterrence efforts as well as further boost U.S. force safeguarding capabilities.”
Twenty-seven attempts have been made on U.S. sites in Syria and Iraq since October 17 by groups backed by Iran. At least 21 American troops were hurt slightly in those strikes.
Even though there have been a lot of attacks on U.S. forces recently, the Pentagon said it sees them as “separate and distinct” from the war involving Israel and Hamas. This is true even though the Pentagon previously admitted that Iranian-backed groups had publicly cautioned that attacks would get worse if Israel invaded the ground.
In October, Ryder answered a question regarding the Pentagon sending assets to the area to protect forces: “I believe we have concerns about escalation because you are aware, you have seen a number of groups across the region openly say, ‘Hey, you know in the event there happens to be a ground incursion, we will be stepping up our attacks.’”
He said again this week that the assaults on American troops and the war in Israel are not connected.
Ryan Ryder was asked what caused the rise in attacks over the last few weeks. He said, “Well, definitely this isn’t the first time that we have seen these Iranian proxy organizations do these types of things for a number of alleged different reasons, which in and of itself is not uncommon.”
Ryder said that Iran was to blame for the strikes.
