Pentagon sends more troops to Middle East following violent protests at U.S. Embassy in Baghdad The Pentagon is bolstering its presence in the Middle East after pro-Iranian protesters tried to storm the embassy compound in Baghdad. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said there are indications Shiite militias in Iraq are planning additional attacks. CBS News correspondent Natalie Brand reports from the Pentagon, and Renad Mansour, a Middle East analyst with the foreign policy think tank Chatham House and research fellow for the Cambridge Security Initiative at the University of Cambridge, joined CBSN to explain the significance of the protests and the trouble in the region.