October 24, 2023
The number of US military members being deployed to the region of this violence between Israel and Hamas is growing tonight.
During a briefing today — the Pentagon confirmed the Air National Guard’s 119th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron out of New Jersey just arrived in the Middle East today. That’s a squadron of F16s being added to the 5 other squadrons of F15e’s and A10’s that are already in the region. Along with – of course the USS Gerald Ford and Dwight D Eisenhower aircraft carrier strike groups.
Over the weekend the Pentagon announced Army Air Defense units from Fort Bliss in Texas, Fort Liberty in North Carolina, and Fort Sill in Oklahoma were deployed to the Middle East and with them went Patriot missile batteries and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense batteries or THAAD batteries. Those are weapons systems meant to protect against incoming fire. The Pentagon would not reveal the specific number of troops deployed with those weapons systems and would not say where exactly they were going. All the Pentagon would say is … they were going to an “undisclosed location in the middle east to enhance force protection for the United States.”
But why do they need that? Because the Pentagon says between October 17th and today US coalition forces and bases have been attacked by Iran backed militia groups at least 10 times in Iraq and at least three times in Syria with one-way attack drones and rockets. These are just the preliminary numbers and they could absolutely grow. But it’s worth remembering – not only does the US believe Iran is behind the militia groups that attacked US coalition forces and bases – but Iran has also been backing Hamas for years – which the United States has declared a terrorist organization.
The Pentagon’s concern is – the longer the bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas goes on the more the threat will grow to the rest of the region. And the President has said the whole point of putting US military assets in the region is to deter any other group or country from trying to get involved and make things worse.
I also reported to you in this video last week – the Defense Secretary put 2,000 troops on a “ready to deploy” notice. As of today – the National Security Council spokesperson confirmed to me that none of those 2,000 have been deployed yet – but they very well could be deployed if needed.
Watch the Pentagon briefing here.
