Pentagon Sending 1,000 More Troops To Middle East As Iran Tensions Escalate

on January 28, 2019 in Arlington, Virginia.
ARLINGTON, VA - JANUARY 28: Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan talks to the media prior to welcoming NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during an honor cordon at the Pentagon on January 28, 2019 in Arlin... ARLINGTON, VA - JANUARY 28: Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan talks to the media prior to welcoming NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during an honor cordon at the Pentagon on January 28, 2019 in Arlington, Virginia. Stoltenberg quoted that President Donald Trump "is committed to NATO" and deserves credit in obtaining $100 billion more in defense spending for the alliance. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan announced Monday that the Pentagon is dispatching 1,000 more troops to the Middle East in the wake of the blown-up oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

According to Politico, the U.S. blames the attack on Iranian forces and sees it as a sign of impending strikes against American interests.

On Monday, Iran also announced its intent to exceed its nuclear stockpile restrictions spelled out in the 2015 deal. The Trump administration pulled the U.S. out of that compact in May 2018.

Correction: This post originally reported that the U.S. troops were being sent to Iran.

Latest News
44
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. I don’t think this headline is correct, we are not sending troops “to Iran”…yet…

  2. "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." – George Orwell

  3. How they gonna send them to Iran? What are they going to do, invade?

  4. The sad part here is that Iran really is a bad actor, they’re taking advantage of how much Trump is hated and mistrusted to try to play games…

    And we might stumble into a full war because of both idiots, but minus our key allies.

  5. I don’t see Iran saying come on in to American troops. Where will they be stationed? Israel? Iraq? What kind of troops? Is this the start of Trump’s first diversionary war? This is a bad bad idea. Having troops there will only make Trump more eager to show how tough he is by using them. He won’t get hurt, of course, but i’m sure these soldiers and their families will be proud to have them risk everything to act on the instructions of a narcissist willing to use anyone and anything to advance his bid for re-election. Damn him.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

38 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for paulw Avatar for srfromgr Avatar for kwoodgr Avatar for UnfadingGreen Avatar for imkmu3 Avatar for cervantes Avatar for becca656 Avatar for horrido Avatar for inversion Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for tacoma Avatar for khaaannn Avatar for clauscph Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for khyber900 Avatar for uneducated Avatar for coimmigrant Avatar for nycabj Avatar for seveneagles Avatar for greenman66 Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for entwicklung46 Avatar for emiliano4

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: