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U.S. Bases in the Gulf Are within Easy Range of Iranian Missiles
(Council on Foreign Relations) Elliott Abrams - U.S. bases in the Middle East are now the targets of Iranian attacks, accounting for the vast majority of the 17 U.S. service member deaths, injuries to 500 others, and billions of dollars in equipment losses. This is a geography problem. Simply put, the U.S. has bases all over the Persian Gulf that are too close to Iran. The largest U.S. base in the Middle East is the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, where 10,000 U.S. troops worked prior to the current war. It is also the forward headquarters of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) and the location of the Combined Air Operations Center that controls all U.S. air activity in the Middle East. The headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command are in Bahrain. There are significant U.S. bases as well in Kuwait and the UAE, and a U.S. presence in Oman and Saudi Arabia. This basing pattern was logical when the U.S. was fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq against terrorist foes who lacked the ability to attack those bases. But this basing pattern is very vulnerable today in the conflict with Iran. Camp Arifjan in Kuwait is 62 miles from Iran. The U.S. naval base in Bahrain is 128 miles from Iran. Al Udeid is 170 miles. The U.S. basing pattern in the Gulf reflects old challenges, including the need to protect U.S. allies from the Soviet Union. Dozens of U.S. aircraft have relocated to Ben-Gurion Airport and Ramon Air Base in Israel. The U.S. is also using bases in Jordan. Gen. (ret.) Frank McKenzie, a former CENTCOM commander, told Middle East Eye in early July: "No one in their right mind would ever put the CENTCOM forward headquarters 100 miles away from Iran." He described the current U.S. basing pattern as an historical "artifact." The writer, a senior fellow at CFR, served as White House deputy national security advisor, where he supervised U.S. policy in the Middle East.