Combined U.S. military forces are being rushed to the Middle East to deter an Iranian response in the wake of Israel’s enhanced air campaign against Hezbollah and the start of a ground operation in southern Lebanon, U.S. and Israeli officials said Monday.
The infusion of fighting assets, which includes air-defense units, will add to the tens of thousands of American personnel already on high alert there, said Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman.
The push follows other moves to enhance and reposition U.S. forces already in the troubled region, as Breitbart News reported.
The Washington Post reports the fresh military dispositions were ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after Israel last week used a series of airstrikes around Beirut to kill Hezbollah terrorist leader Hasan Nasrallah, and as U.S. officials anticipated Israel could soon launch a limited ground entry into Lebanon. The Post notes:
Singh told reporters that to further boost the number of personnel in the Middle East, the Pentagon will extend some deployed units that were scheduled to rotate home and send additional forces to augment them, including squadrons that fly F-16, F-15E and F-22 fighters and A-10 attack jets. Austin also issued prepare-to-deploy orders for an unspecified number of other units that are in the United States, she said.
Singh linked the additional deployments directly to rhetoric from senior Iranian officials, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has called for all Muslims to stand with Hezbollah as it confronts Israel. Writing on social media over the weekend, he declared that “the blows struck by the Resistance Front on the worn-out, deteriorating body of the Zionist regime will become even more crushing.”
The “resistance front” is a reference to the network of militant proxy forces that Iran backs across the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and several militia forces in Iraq and Syria.
The decision brings the total number of American troops in the region to as many as 43,000, including more than a dozen warships.
The beefed-up presence is designed both to help defend Israel and protect U.S. and allied personnel and assets.
It comes after U.S. Navy warships shot down a barrage of Houthi terrorist cruise missiles and drones launched Friday from Yemen at the shipping lanes of the Red Sea.
The Pentagon confirmed the attack and the successful response on Friday.
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The USS Abraham Lincoln and its carrier strike group are in the region on an extended deployment.
The accompanying strike group includes three destroyers: USS Spruance, USS Stockdale, and USS O’Kane.
