“Sure, Iran wants the U.S. to pull back, but that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong strategic choice,” says Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities think tank in Washington, D.C., which advocates for a restrained U.S. national security strategy.
The bases are “huge” vulnerabilities for the United States as well, Dr. Kavanagh says. There has also been talk of moving U.S. troops and infrastructure into Jordan, Saudi Arabia, or Israel, which could make a smaller U.S. Gulf footprint more feasible.
As to whether they have helped bring peace and stability to the region, she argues, “I just can’t find any evidence that U.S. military presence in the Middle East has been beneficial to the Middle East.”
Read at Christian Science Monitor
Featuring
