U.S. Commander Warns of Iranian Attack in Middle East
A top general said that America’s addition of 14,000 troops in the Persian Gulf since the spring would probably not deter Iran from carrying out a major strike.
By Eric Schmitt
Nov. 23, 2019
MANAMA, Bahrain — The deployment of 14,000 additional American troops to the Persian Gulf region since the spring has probably not dissuaded Iran from planning a major attack on the scale of the recent missile and drone assault on Saudi Arabia’s oil fields, the commander of American forces in the Middle East says.
The officer, Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, the head of the military’s Central Command, said the additional troops, fighter jets and air defenses that the Pentagon has dispatched might have deterred Iran from attacking American targets — like Iran’s downing of an unmanned surveillance drone in June. But he said strikes against Gulf nations were another matter.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/world/middleeast/iran-attacks-mckenzie.html
