As if things in the sandbox weren’t hot enough already: This week, the United States Department of Defense announced a significant move of troops and equipment into the Middle East. While this comes at a time when a major aircraft carrier task group is due to rotate out of the area, these new movements are said to be intended to counter any possible aggression by Iran.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced this week that it is moving military assets to the Middle East to deter continued Iranian aggression against the U.S. and Israel after Iran vowed this week to hit Israel following last week’s strikes in Iran.
The Pentagon ordered the deployment of “additional ballistic missile defense destroyers, fighter squadron and tanker aircraft, and several U.S. Air Force B-52 long-range strike bombers to the region.”
The forces will arrive in the region in the coming months as the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group prepares to leave the region.
The move of B-52s and missile defense is interesting. The B-52, it should be noted, is strictly an offensive platform, and its use presumes U.S. air superiority where the BUFFs are deployed, thus perhaps the movement of fighters.
Since Vietnam, the United States has relied on and achieved not only air superiority but total domination of the air space over any battlefield.
“These deployments build on the recent decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system to Israel as well as DoD’s sustained Amphibious Ready Group Marine Expeditionary Unit (ARG/MEU) posture in the Eastern Mediterranean,” a statement said.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that the movements demonstrated the “flexible nature of U.S. global defense posture and U.S. capability to deploy world-wide on short notice to meet evolving national security threats.”
The statement added that the U.S. would respond if Iran or its terrorist proxy groups throughout the region targeted U.S. personnel or interests.
This message can only be directed at Iran.
See Related: WATCH: IDF Speaks After Israel’s Massive Air Strikes on ‘Iran and Its Proxies’
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US Warns Iran Against Attacks – Iran Issues Empty Threats in Response
Moves like this put Iran in something of a box. The Islamic Republican’s ruling cabal depends on projecting an image of strength to the people who live under their thumbs; enough of their younger generations have been educated in Europe and even the United States to know that Iran is a pariah among nations, and there have been signs of unrest against the regime in the past. Israel’s strikes against Iran have drawn, so far, mostly token replies.
Now a significant movement of American forces into the area can only be seen as a warning to Iran. But Iran is warning Israel and, by association, the United States, that they are ready to take things to the next level.
Kamal Kharrazi, Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations head, said on Friday that the Islamic regime now possesses the technological capabilities to create a nuclear weapon.
Iran already has enough enriched uranium that — if it decided to break out — could build a weapon in roughly a week, assuming that they have technological abilities.
“We now have the technical capabilities necessary to produce nuclear weapons,” he claimed. “We are ready for war but we do not want to escalate because we have currently proven our ability to deter from doing so.”
If Iran starts dropping hot rocks on Israel or U.S. forces in the region, calling that an “escalation” is to indulge in the grossest of understatements. But given that Israel already has such a capacity, and would almost certainly reply in kind, it’s hard not to write Kharrazi’s warning off as more typical hot air from the Islamic Republic, which is famous for such emissions.
This situation will no doubt continue to develop, and as always, we will bring you updates as events warrant.
