Report: Pentagon to present plan to send 10,000 more troops to the Middle East

published 23 May 2019

To boost security in the region, the Pentagon on Thursday will show the White House plans to send up to 10,000 more troops to the Middle East, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

The officials said this is not in response to any new threats from Iran. President Trump has said he wants U.S. troops out of the Middle East, and it's not clear if the White House will approve sending any or all of the requested troops.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday the U.S. does not want to provoke Iran, and "our biggest focus at this point is to prevent Iranian miscalculation." Earlier this month, the U.S. hastened the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bombers to the region. U.S. officials have remained tight-lipped about any potential Iranian threats, merely saying there are maritime threats.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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