|
Trending Topics
|
U.S. to Boost Military Presence in Mideast
(AP-Washington Post) Lolita C. Baldor - The U.S. will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region, the Pentagon said Friday, beefing up the American military presence to help defend Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies and safeguard U.S. troops. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the European and Middle East regions and is taking steps to send more land-based ballistic missile defense weapons there, the Pentagon said Friday. In a call on Thursday, President Joe Biden discussed new U.S. military deployments with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protect against possible attacks from ballistic missiles and drones. In April, U.S. forces intercepted dozens of missiles and drones fired by Iran against Israel. Austin is ordering the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which is in the Gulf of Oman but scheduled to come home later this summer.