US weighs smaller Middle East presence after Iran war exposes vulnerabilities: CNN - Region

The US military and intelligence communities have held recent, quiet discussions about reducing the number of personnel and facilities typically stationed in the Middle East if the Trump administration succeeds in ending the conflict with Iran, six sources told CNN. Following the 11 September 2001 attacks, the United States dramatically expanded its network of permanent military and intelligence facilities in the region to wage wars and conduct strikes in countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Yemen and Libya. But the recent fighting with Iran has exposed vulnerabilities in US military infrastructure across the Middle East, with many facilities becoming targets of repeated Iranian attacks during a war that has proved politically unpopular, according to CNN. US officials acknowledge that the resulting damage has been substantial. The CIA's outpost in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was effectively destroyed in an Iranian attack, according to a US official and a former intelligence officer. While Pentagon officials have sought to downplay the impact, US military facilities in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have all been struck by Iranian drones and missiles, with sources telling CNN the damage has been significant. Officials involved in informal discussions within the military and intelligence communities said they were now acting, at least in part, to anticipate what might be acceptable to a mercurial president who has previously articulated a desire to reduce US military deployments overseas and built part of his political identity around that goal. The discussions are taking place even as about 50,000 US troops and a large number of military assets remain in the Middle East, including two aircraft carriers and more than a dozen guided-missile destroyers. CIA officers who were sent home during the most intense phase of the fighting earlier this year are now being sent back to the region, one of the sources said. Senior Pentagon officials have privately indicated that they want to reduce the US military's troop presence in several Gulf countries as part of a broader effort to shift more of the region's defense burden onto regional partners, according to three sources familiar with the discussions, CNN reported. The US military is also assessing how to strengthen defenses for troops expected to remain in the region after the war with Iran ends. That includes moving some installations underground to better protect them from missile and drone attacks similar to those launched by Iran during the months-long conflict, according to two sources familiar with the discussions. Although the number of US troops in the Middle East declined in the years after 2011, the total continued to range between 30,000 and 60,000. Broadly, Pentagon officials expect to maintain some of the large, permanent military bases in the region, but rebuilding those installations may depend on host nations' willingness to contribute to the cost, which would likely run into billions of dollars, one of the sources told CNN. The source added that many of the bases were originally constructed and paid for by the countries where they are located. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link: