Citing ongoing US-Iran tensions and the secret intelligence on Iranian “threats” officials keep mentioning, CENTCOM is requesting that the Pentagon approve substantial numbers of additional US ground troops to be deployed somewhere in the Middle East.



Though initial reports claimed that CENTCOM was only requesting “about 5,000” ground troops, subsequent reports said that the Pentagon are preparing a plan to present to President Trump seeking 10,000 troops.



It’s not clear where these troops could be stationed, though officials emphasized they would be purely defensive. It is unlikely Iraq would welcome a large influx of US troops, however, especially when it is presented as being directed against neighboring Iran.



CENTCOM is also being very vague about what the troops are really need for, saying that they don’t generally get into public disclosure of that sort of thing. That’s putting it mildly, given how little they, and the rest of the US military, are willing to even talk to the press anymore.



Instead, we’re only told something non-specific with Iran is going on, and that the plan is 10,000 troops being sent somewhere in the region to do something. That seems like it would be tough to sell to the public, but policy seems by and large to be made irrespective of how Americans feel about it.





Author: Jason Ditz Jason Ditz is news editor of Antiwar.com. View all posts by Jason Ditz