Sending 14,000 more U.S. troops to the Middle East would double down on decades of failure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 4, 2019
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, The Wall Street Journal reported the Trump administration is considering sending an additional 14,000 U.S. troops to the Middle East to “counter Iran.” Defense Priorities Policy Director Benjamin H. Friedman issued the following statement in response:

“The last 25 years of foreign policy failure demonstrates the folly of increasing U.S. force levels in the Middle East.

“Instead of potentially deploying 14,000 additional troops, the administration should methodically withdraw the more than 50,000 U.S. forces already in the region, starting in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

“Massing troops and ships would heighten tensions with an already-cornered Iran. It would also encourage more recklessness from Saudi Arabia and increase the chances of another disastrous war in the Middle East.

“The Middle East is of diminishing strategic importance. U.S. interests are limited to avoiding major, long-term disruptions to global oil markets and combatting anti-U.S. terror threats. Neither interest justifies a large, permanent troop presence or war with Iran.

“Iran is a middling power, easily contained by its neighbors. The U.S. should be doing less in the region, not more, and it should avoid picking sides in the longstanding Sunni-Shiite fights there.”

Author

Benjamin
Friedman

Policy Director

Defense Priorities