US TALKS UP ‘SIGNIFICANT FORCE PRESENCE’ IN MIDDLE EAST

Creator: Petty Officer 2nd Class Aaron Lau | Credit: U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 5th Fleet

Wed 03 January 2024:

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby has said that the US is beefing up its military assets in the waters of the Middle East to protect its forces, allies and international trade.

“To accomplish these goals we have established and will continue to maintain a significant force presence in the Middle East,” Kirby told reporters.

He said the Pentagon now has more than 4,000 troops and 50 aircraft in the eastern Mediterranean. Additionally, Kirby said the US and its allies are bolstering their forces in the Red Sea to thwart Houthi attacks on commercial ships.

“The United States does not seek conflict with any nation or actor in the Middle East, nor do we want to see the war between Israel and Hamas widen in the region, but neither will we shrink from the task of defending ourselves, our interests, our partners or the free flow of international commerce,” Kirby said.

Earlier in the day, Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said “resistance movements” in the region are not deterred by the US military threats.

US continues to hit out at Houthi Red Sea attacks

The United States has continued to say that the Houthis are threatening freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, but it remains unclear what capacity the US has to crack down on the raids.

“We have this joint statement from the governments of US, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK talking about this broad consensus against the Houthi attacks,” Al Jazeera correspondent Shihab Rattansi reported from the US State Department in Washington, DC.

“But right now, there are still so many questions about what exactly the US has organised under this umbrella of Operation Prosperity Guardian,” he added.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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