WASHINGTON — The United States is considering a permanent reduction in its military and intelligence presence in the Middle East, CNN reported citing multiple sourcces.According to several sources, a review of troop levels and the number of facilities could begin if the Trump administration succeeds in ending the Iran conflict.In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the US exponentially expanded a constellation of permanent military and intelligence facilities to fight wars and conduct strikes in half a dozen countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Yemen and Libya.But the recent fighting with Iran has laid bare deep vulnerabilities in the American infrastructure in the Middle East, as many of those sites have become targets of repeated Iranian attacks in an unpopular war that has killed 18 American service members. assesses a new force structure in the Middle EastAbout 50,000 US service members, two aircraft carriers and more than a dozen guided-missile destroyers are currently in the region. CIA personnel who were evacuated during the most intense period of fighting have already begun returning.At the same time, military leaders are seeking ways to strengthen the protection of the forces that will remain after the war ends. Possible measures include placing some facilities underground to reduce the risks posed by missile and drone strikes.According to the sources, several options for restructuring US forces have been prepared. Implementation could begin no earlier than next year. At the same time, the United States does not plan to abandon positions needed to conduct air operations during the war.Officials are also examining the restoration of facilities that were severely damaged or destroyed by Iranian strikes. Some may not be rebuilt because of the high cost of the work. The final decision will also depend on whether the Gulf states are willing to finance the restoration of the infrastructure.The US military is also evaluating how to harden its defenses for those troops who are expected to remain in the region, even once the war ends. While the Pentagon has long discussed moving some bases in the region underground, the idea took on new urgency after the first weeks of war as Iran exposed how vulnerable they were to drone and missile attacks.“The vulnerabilities were always known, but the US never acted on it with urgency,” said one of the sources.The US military started dramatically increasing its footprint in the Middle East in the years before 9/11, maintaining a presence of roughly 27,000 active-duty troops across the region starting in 1998 — significantly more than in the decades prior.That number would only continue to grow after the 9/11 attacks to support first the war in Afghanistan, then Iraq, then a metastasizing series of counterterrorism conflicts in hot spots around the region.During the invasion of Iraq two years after the 9/11 attacks, the US had an estimated 250,000 troops in the Middle East. Between 2007 and 2011, the number of Americans in the region fluctuated but never dropped below 100,000, according to publicly available estimates.In 2011, then-President Barack Obama announced that “the tide of war is receding” in Afghanistan and that the US would begin drawing down tens of thousands of troops whom he had surged to the fight. The US would not withdraw fully from Afghanistan for another decade.That same year, Obama withdrew combat troops from Iraq in a bid to extricate the US from a war widely seen as a failure. Even as the total of US troops in the Middle East dropped in the years following 2011, it still hovered between 30,000 and 60,000. Throughout that time, the potential threat from Iran also loomed large in the mind of US policymakers, in particular proxy groups that launched fatal attacks on American service members in Iraq.Though planners are discussing options for potential cuts now, the US appears no closer to negotiating a settlement with Iran that would end the conflict. Iran continues to target US bases and forces deployed to the region, launching attacks against American installations in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates last week as the two sides exchanged fire for the first time in roughly a month.Although Pentagon officials have sought to downplay the impact, American military installations in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have all been struck by Iranian drones and missiles, and sources say the damage has been significant.Senior Pentagon officials have privately made clear they want to scale back the US military’s troop presence in several Gulf countries as part of a broader effort to shift more of the defense burden onto regional partners, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.Among the changes under discussion is the possibility of carrying out certain sensitive CIA and special operations missions without a permanent presence at bases. Personnel and equipment could be kept in the United States and deployed to the Middle East only for specific missions.Top US military leaders have recently warned Trump that combat options for escalating the conflict with Iran are unlikely to achieve his stated objectives, CNN has reported, with the president instead opting to focus on ramping up economic pressure in hopes of crippling the regime.But there is no clear timeline for how long that strategy may take to produce results, and many analysts believe that Iran’s current leadership may be willing to endure months of economic pain and is unlikely to capitulate in the near term.Broadly, Pentagon officials expect to maintain some of the large, permanent military bases in the region, but rebuilding those installations may depend on the host nation’s willingness to contribute to the cost, which would likely be in the billions of dollars, one of the sources told CNN.WASHINGTON — The United States is considering a permanent reduction in its military and intelligence presence in the Middle East, CNN reported citing multiple sourcces.According to several sources, a review of troop levels and the number of facilities could begin if the Trump administration succeeds in ending the Iran conflict.In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the US exponentially expanded a constellation of permanent military and intelligence facilities to fight wars and conduct strikes in half a dozen countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Yemen and Libya.But the recent fighting with Iran has laid bare deep vulnerabilities in the American infrastructure in the Middle East, as many of those sites have become targets of repeated Iranian attacks in an unpopular war that has killed 18 American service members. assesses a new force structure in the Middle EastAbout 50,000 US service members, two aircraft carriers and more than a dozen guided-missile destroyers are currently in the region. CIA personnel who were evacuated during the most intense period of fighting have already begun returning.At the same time, military leaders are seeking ways to strengthen the protection of the forces that will remain after the war ends. Possible measures include placing some facilities underground to reduce the risks posed by missile and drone strikes.According to the sources, several options for restructuring US forces have been prepared. Implementation could begin no earlier than next year. At the same time, the United States does not plan to abandon positions needed to conduct air operations during the war.Officials are also examining the restoration of facilities that were severely damaged or destroyed by Iranian strikes. Some may not be rebuilt because of the high cost of the work. The final decision will also depend on whether the Gulf states are willing to finance the restoration of the infrastructure.The US military is also evaluating how to harden its defenses for those troops who are expected to remain in the region, even once the war ends. While the Pentagon has long discussed moving some bases in the region underground, the idea took on new urgency after the first weeks of war as Iran exposed how vulnerable they were to drone and missile attacks.“The vulnerabilities were always known, but the US never acted on it with urgency,” said one of the sources.The US military started dramatically increasing its footprint in the Middle East in the years before 9/11, maintaining a presence of roughly 27,000 active-duty troops across the region starting in 1998 — significantly more than in the decades prior.That number would only continue to grow after the 9/11 attacks to support first the war in Afghanistan, then Iraq, then a metastasizing series of counterterrorism conflicts in hot spots around the region.During the invasion of Iraq two years after the 9/11 attacks, the US had an estimated 250,000 troops in the Middle East. Between 2007 and 2011, the number of Americans in the region fluctuated but never dropped below 100,000, according to publicly available estimates.In 2011, then-President Barack Obama announced that “the tide of war is receding” in Afghanistan and that the US would begin drawing down tens of thousands of troops whom he had surged to the fight. The US would not withdraw fully from Afghanistan for another decade.That same year, Obama withdrew combat troops from Iraq in a bid to extricate the US from a war widely seen as a failure. Even as the total of US troops in the Middle East dropped in the years following 2011, it still hovered between 30,000 and 60,000. Throughout that time, the potential threat from Iran also loomed large in the mind of US policymakers, in particular proxy groups that launched fatal attacks on American service members in Iraq.Though planners are discussing options for potential cuts now, the US appears no closer to negotiating a settlement with Iran that would end the conflict. Iran continues to target US bases and forces deployed to the region, launching attacks against American installations in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates last week as the two sides exchanged fire for the first time in roughly a month.Although Pentagon officials have sought to downplay the impact, American military installations in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have all been struck by Iranian drones and missiles, and sources say the damage has been significant.Senior Pentagon officials have privately made clear they want to scale back the US military’s troop presence in several Gulf countries as part of a broader effort to shift more of the defense burden onto regional partners, according to three sources familiar with the discussions.Among the changes under discussion is the possibility of carrying out certain sensitive CIA and special operations missions without a permanent presence at bases. Personnel and equipment could be kept in the United States and deployed to the Middle East only for specific missions.Top US military leaders have recently warned Trump that combat options for escalating the conflict with Iran are unlikely to achieve his stated objectives, CNN has reported, with the president instead opting to focus on ramping up economic pressure in hopes of crippling the regime.But there is no clear timeline for how long that strategy may take to produce results, and many analysts believe that Iran’s current leadership may be willing to endure months of economic pain and is unlikely to capitulate in the near term.Broadly, Pentagon officials expect to maintain some of the large, permanent military bases in the region, but rebuilding those installations may depend on the host nation’s willingness to contribute to the cost, which would likely be in the billions of dollars, one of the sources told CNN.
