Pentagon Weighs Permanent Gulf Drawdown After Iran Attacks
Pentagon Weighs Permanent Gulf Drawdown After Iran Attacks
The News
The Pentagon is weighing a long-term pullback of American forces from the Persian Gulf after months of Iranian missile and drone attacks battered US bases there, the Washington Post reported Tuesday, citing eight sources.
The most consequential piece: the Defense Department is considering not rebuilding damaged bases as they were before the war began in late February.
The Pentagon's policy office is leading the evaluation, with the Joint Staff and US Central Command also taking part, the Jerusalem Post reported, citing the Washington Post account.
CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper has been involved in the discussions and supports discussing moving Gulf troops westward, one source told the Post.
Timeline
The war with Iran begins. Many US bases in the region were evacuated in February before the US and Israel launched strikes under Operation Epic Fury, a person familiar with the details told the Washington Post, because they were considered vulnerable to drone and missile attack. "Iran thinks we are in the traditional places," the person said.
Iran answers with attacks on Gulf states hosting US troops, firing thousands of ballistic missiles and one-way drones, according to the Jerusalem Post.
19 American soldiers have been killed and hundreds injured, many in strikes on those bases.
The UAE warns residents of incoming ballistic missiles, later determined to have been launched by Iran. Neither struck the country. Iran's Foreign Ministry rejected the report and suggested a "false-flag" attack by the US or Israel.
The Washington Post publishes the report on the internal review.
Reactions
A CENTCOM spokesman declined to comment on the report, the Jerusalem Post said.
The review is expected to open a rift inside the administration between hawks who favor intervention and the non-interventionist camp, another source told the Post.
The Times of Israel noted the obvious catch: however Washington frames it, a drawdown would most likely be seen as a major achievement by Iran, which has long demanded a US withdrawal from the region — and would leave the Gulf states that host American bases more exposed.
ZeroHedge put the same point more bluntly, headlining its piece "Pentagon Weighing Permanent Smaller US Presence In Gulf (Just Don't Call It Retreat)."
Raw Story described the review as a possible "once-in-a-generation" pivot, using the Post's phrase that the war has created a "once-in-a-generation chance" to reassess the American footprint.
What's Next
No decision has been announced. The evaluation is internal and ongoing, and the Post's sources described options rather than orders — chiefly which damaged facilities get rebuilt and whether forces shift west, away from Iranian missile range.
The US currently houses troops and military infrastructure in Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, plus temporary facilities in countries including Israel.
More
The Gulf question does not sit alone. The Washington Examiner reported that the Iran war is straining America's ability to deter China in the Indo-Pacific as military assets are drawn away from that region.
The Los Angeles Times reported that anxiety has spread among Pacific allies after President Donald Trump moved to curtail military drills with South Korea — and as the region's sole US aircraft carrier heads to the Middle East.
Taken together: the Pentagon is being asked where it can afford to be smaller, in two theaters at once.
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