The United States military has just gotten a bit more active.
It was reported on Friday that the U.S. is deploying roughly 3,000 more troops to the Middle East as tensions with Iran reach a new high.
Heightened military presence
Part of President Donald Trump’s mission while in office has been to bring the troops back home to America, and he has been working on this goal amidst much criticism at times. But, recently — since May — the president has been forced to send roughly 14,000 troops back to the Middle East.
This week, in particular, has seen two separate deployments.
The first batch, which took place earlier in the week, was deployed to Kuwait. This move followed an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad by an Iran-backed militia.
Now, an additional 3,000 troops from the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina are being sent to an unspecified location in the Middle East in the wake of the U.S. killing of Iran’s General Qassem Soleimani.
Aftermath
President Trump on Thursday ordered the takedown of Soleimani, a commander of Iran’s Quds Force. Given the number of Americans that Soleimani is said to have killed over the years, Trump defended the move as long overdue, saying, “he should have been taken out many years ago.”
Trump is not alone in defending the decision. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has been right alongside the president, explaining that the killing of Soleimani was “wholly lawful” because he was an “imminent” threat to the United States.
While this may indeed be the case, many now fear a response from Iran. Indeed, Iran has vowed to carry out a “harsh retaliation” for the death of Soleimani.
Accordingly, the Trump administration has put American citizens in the region on notice that they could be in danger from Iran. And, in addition, the 3,000 troops are being deployed in an attempt to stabilize the situation.
Peak tensions
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been building throughout Trump’s presidency, ever since he declared that former President Barack Obama’s Iran Deal had to go. Now, after the attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and the death of Soleimani, tensions are at an all-time high.
We wish a safe deployment to our troops.
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