WASHINGTON D.C. (WSAU) – The U.S. military has agreed to send additional troops back to the Middle East as the world continues to watch regional tensions grow.
According to the New York Post, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed on Monday that additional U.S. forces will be deployed to the region but declined to provide information on how many soldiers would be joining the more than 40,000 U.S. forces members currently stationed in and around Lebanon, which has become the focus of Israeli military activity due to terrorist organizations like Hams and Hezbollah’s large presence in the area.
“In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional US military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region,” Ryder said during the press conference.
Over the weekend the BBC reported that Israeli Defense Forces carried out air strikes against over 800 terrorist-affiliated targets, such as Hezbollah commander Ali Karaki, who hid out in civilian population locations in both Lebanon and Beirut. The report stated that 1,2000 people were injured following the air strikes, but an accurate count of how many of those were terrorist fighters or civilians wasn’t immediately available.
During this month’s presidential debate, Vice President Kamala Harris falsely claimed that there were no U.S. troops currently stationed abroad when she said, “As of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone, in any war zone around the world, for the for the first time this century.” Since her remarks were made, the U.S. Defense Department has confirmed to fact-checking outlets such as PolitiFact that over 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Iraq and another 900 are currently deployed inside Syria, which included eight servicemembers being injured during a terrorist drone attack in August.
Countless thousands of U.S. troops have also been redeployed to the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas War back in October 2023.
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