Pentagon denies US mulling 14,000 more troops for Mideast

The Pentagon on Wednesday denied a report that the
United States was weighing sending up to 14,000 more troops to the Middle East
in the face of a perceived threat from Iran.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the possible
deployment would include “dozens” more ships and double the number of troops
added to the US force in the region since the beginning of this year, citing
unnamed US officials.
The paper said President Donald Trump could make a
decision on the troop boost as early as this month.
But the Pentagon disputed the accuracy of the
report.
“To be clear, the reporting is wrong. The US is not
considering sending 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East,” spokeswoman
Alyssa Farah tweeted.
The region has seen a series of attacks on shipping
vessels and a drone and missile attack on Saudi oil installations in September
blamed on Iran.
Washington has already ratcheted up its military
presence in the Gulf and expanded economic sanctions on Tehran, elevating
tensions across the region.
In mid-November the US aircraft carrier Abraham
Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz in a show of force aimed at
reassuring allies worried about the Iran threat.
In October Defense Secretary Mark Esper announced
that two fighter squadrons and additional missile defense batteries were being
sent to Saudi Arabia, for a total of about 3,000 new troops.
Earlier Wednesday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani
said the country was willing to return to the negotiating table over its
nuclear program if the United States first drops sanctions, which have hampered
the country’s economy and may have contributed to recent domestic turmoil
sparked by fuel price hikes.
Speaking at a defense conference in Manama, Bahrain
on November 23, General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, said
the US does not have all the resources it needs to cover the Middle East
region.
“There is a lot of water to cover. Simply put, we
don’t have sufficient resources to be where we want to be in the right numbers
all the time,” he told the annual Manama Dialogue on regional security.
But McKenzie rebuffed criticism that Washington has
been disengaging from the region.
“We have a carrier in the theatre, we’ve reinforced
Saudi Arabia,” he said.
“So I’m not sure I would agree with the narrative of
abandonment or a narrative of walking away.”
“Clearly the United States has different global
priorities and this is probably not the highest global priority, but I think it
remains a very important thing for the United States,” he added.