2024-01-31T12:50:26+00:00
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/ An American news website revealed today, Wednesday, that the American forces currently stationed in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve to fight ISIS are preparing for a ground deployment in support of the Israeli forces waging war in the Gaza Strip, referring to a document that “refutes” the promises of President Joe Biden, who pledged not to send troops directly to the sites of the current war.
The Intercept website reported that documents issued in January indicate that the US military has prepared for this possibility, as the Pentagon called on the US Air Force to remain “on alert for forward deployment to support ground forces in the event that the United States becomes involved on the ground in a Hamas-Israel war.”
According to a separate personnel document, the reserve order concerns personnel who deployed last year to Iraq.
While the documents do not indicate that U.S. ground military intervention in the war is imminent, the January memo is the latest indication of the Pentagon’s preparations to support Israel in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment on the staff memo on preparing for ground engagement, but the White House has stressed in the past that its support for Israel in the Gaza war would not include deploying ground forces.
The website said that the documents it obtained provide a reminder of the US military presence in the Middle East, despite the belief of many Americans that the mission there ended long ago.
The records include, for example, individuals deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. military’s name for the war against ISIS.
Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder had previously stated the number of attacks launched on US forces in the region since a drone attack on a base in Jordan on January 28.
Ryder said there have already been three attacks on US forces in the area since a drone attack killed three soldiers and wounded more than 40 others.
The Iraqi Islamic Resistance announced last Sunday that its fighters “attacked four enemy bases using drones, three of which are in Syria, namely the Shaddadi base, the Rukban base, and the Tanf base, and the fourth is inside the occupied Palestinian territories, namely the Zvulun naval facility.”
The US Central Command announced today, Wednesday, that it shot down an anti-ship missile launched by the Houthis from Yemen towards the Red Sea. It is considered Israel’s first line of defense, as its air defenses at sea shoot down missiles and drones that the Houthis claim to have launched against Israel in support of Hamas. The United States is also fighting Houthi control over ships in the Red Sea, as it launched a series of attacks on the Houthis in Yemen after they disrupted maritime traffic in support of Gaza.
Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 7, 2023, while the United States is accused of supporting Israel and backing it in the war diplomatically and militarily, which has sparked attacks against its forces or interests in various parts of the Middle East, most notably in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, while Washington accuses the “Axis of Resistance” of being supported by Iran and taking its orders.