Pentagon weighs reducing US military presence in Persian Gulf after Iran war

The Pentagon is evaluating whether to reduce the US military presence in the Persian Gulf after the Iran war as extensive damage to American bases forces officials to reconsider how troops and equipment are positioned across the Middle East US media reportedThe assessment is at an early stage and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has not ordered a formal review according to a report by The Washington Post which cited eight officials and other people familiar with the matterA senior Pentagon official described the exercise as ldquoprudent planningrdquo It could eventually shape decisions on whether Washington should rebuild bases damaged during months of Iranian missile and drone attacksldquoDecisions are going to have to be made on some of this stuffrdquo the official said The Pentagonrsquos policy office is leading the evaluation The Joint Staff and US Central Command are also studying the issueCentral Command normally stations about 40000 troops at nearly 20 sites stretching about 1500 miles from Jordan to Oman The largest and most permanent American bases in the Middle East are concentrated in the Persian GulfBahrain hosts the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet Kuwait houses major Army and Air Force assetsSince early this year the Pentagon has sent additional warships fighter aircraft airdefence systems and other equipment to the region US forces have carried out more than 13000 strikes against Iran according to the reportAdm Bradley Cooper the head of Central Command supports discussions about potentially moving American troops west from the Gulf a US official said A Central Command spokesperson declined to commentBefore the war began in February Central Command evacuated personnel from several bases because they were considered vulnerable to Iranian missiles and drones Some of those movements could remain in place after the conflictldquoIran thinks we are in the traditional placesrdquo a person familiar with the adjustments said ldquoAnd we are notrdquoSix American service members were killed in a March strike on Port Shuaiba in Kuwait More than 200 US facilities have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict the newspaper reported earlierThe US military has also used more than 1000 advanced airdefence interceptors reducing its stockpiles of Patriot and Terminal High Altitude Area Defence missilesldquoThe war really did highlight the vulnerability of US forces in the regionrdquo said Michael Ratney a former US ambassador to Saudi ArabiaRatney said moving personnel and equipment westwards to Jordan Israel or Saudi Arabiarsquos Red Sea coast could reduce some risks But he said the added distance was not a ldquoperfect solution to this problemrdquoIran has demonstrated that it can hit targets farther away An Iranian attack on Jordan last month killed four US service membersAllison Minor a former National Security Council director for Arabian Peninsula affairs said Gulf countries could retain arms sales intelligence sharing and other parts of their US security partnerships while hosting fewer American troopsldquoBut you need to be discussing all of those comprehensively and not just the question of the sheer number of troopsrdquo she saidThe Pentagon estimates that the war will cost about 375 billion by the end of September That figure does not include rebuilding damaged bases The American Enterprise Institute estimated in April that repairs could cost 5 billionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever