WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2019) The Trump administration left a confusing trail of explanations in attempting to deny, clarify or otherwise explain a published report claiming that President Donald Trump is expected to decide as early as this month whether to double US force strength in the Persian Gulf region with an extra 14,000 service members.
Initially, a Pentagon spokesman called the Wall Street Journal "wrong." A few hours later a senior defense official called the report "inaccurate." Then, Trump stepped in with a clarification that only muddled the picture.
"There might be a threat, and if there is a threat, it will be met very strongly. But we'll be announcing whatever we may be doing - may or may not be doing," Trump told reporters on Thursday when asked about the report.
Tehran has been blamed for a series of attacks, including one in September against oil facilities in Saudi Arabia that initially crippled half of the kingdom's oil output.
Almost immediately after Trump's "clarification," Pentagon Press Secretary Alyssa Farah, who earlier called the report "wrong," stepped back in to disclose a conversation between Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe.
Farah quoted Esper as telling Inhofe: "We are not considering sending 14,000 additional troops to the middle East at this time."
The Journal reported that President Donald Trump is expected to decide as early as this a month whether to approve an increase US force deployments by up to 14,000, possibly less, in addition to 14,000 deployed with a buildup that began in May. That buildup took place despite a vow by Trump months earlier to "bring troops home" from endless wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
The Journal also reported that key uniformed military officers, including US Central Command's General Kenneth McKenzie, General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and White House National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien "have indicated support for additional deterrence."
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy John Rood on Thursday told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the article was "inaccurate."
"Based on what we're seeing with our concerns about the threat picture it is possible that we would need adjust our force posture and I think that would be a prudent step based on what we observe because our objective is to deter Iranian aggression," he said.
Rood then added that the US continues to evaluate the threat from Iran to determine whether or not to deploy additional forces while emphasizing that no decision had been made.
