Jason Ditz / Anti-War.com & Al Alam & PressTV – 2013-06-25 01:13:48
400 US Troops Will Be Deployed to Egypt
Jason Ditz / Anti-War.com
(June 24, 2013) — A group of over 400 US ground troops are going to soon be deployed to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, as part of a 13-naton force aimed at preventing riots in the area around Israel’s border.
The troops have been training for months for the deployment, which comes on the eve of planned protests against the Morsi government in Egypt, which many fear could lead to a violent crackdown and further demonstrations, as has been so common in the past.
The Egyptian government downplayed the deployment, saying the troops are being sent “merely as a formality” and that they won’t have any weapons. This is likely aimed at preventing another controversy surrounding foreign troops occupying Egyptian soil.
Issues over the military bases for foreign forces in Sinai caused major concern among Egyptians last year, with the Egyptian Army eventually dismissing the reports as a “lie†and claiming that the bases were merely “multinational forces facilities” and not real military bases, even though they are bases for foreign military forces.
A Thousand US Troops Deploy to Jordan/Syria Border
Al Alam
TEHERAN (June 22, 2013) — Washington has left some 700 combat-ready troops in Jordan following a military exercise in the country, which many believe may be used in a possible attack on Syria.
In a letter to the Speaker of House of Representatives John Boehner on Friday, US President Barack Obama said that the deployment was made at the request of the Jordanian government. He stated that about 700 of the US troops deployed to Jordan as part of a military training exercise, which ended on Thursday, would stay in the country.
The troops will stay until the security situation becomes such that they are no longer required, Obama added, but provided no further details.
“This detachment that participated in the exercise and remained in Jordan includes Patriot missile systems, fighter aircraft, and related support, command, control, and communications personnel and systems,” Obama stated.
On June 9, the US held a multinational military exercise in Jordan’s desert areas, bordering Syria. About 8,000 troops from 19 countries participated in the exercise.
On June 4, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich issued a statement, saying, “We have more than once stated our opinion on this — foreign weapons are being pumped into an explosive region.”
“This is happening very close to Syria, where for more than two years the flames are burning of a devastating conflict,: the statement added.
See more at:http://en.alalam.ir/news/1486844#sthash.62hrKiPD.dpuf
US to Leave 1,000 Combat Troops Along Syria’s Border
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(June 21, 2013) — The “Eager Lion” military exercise in Jordan was already used as a shoehorn to get US Patriot missile batteries and warplanes into the country, but with the drill finally coming to an end, the US dropped the revelation that 700 combat troops, supposedly sent there just for the two weeks, aren’t leaving either.
Instead, President Obama has announced that those 700 troops are just going to stay in Jordan, along with the about 300 that were already there, right along the Syrian border, until some unspecified future date when the “security situation will allow for their departure.” This means an open-ended deployment of 1,000 troops overall to the cusp of a warzone.
The whole “Eager Lion” drill centered around the notion of attacking Syria, and keeping the US combat troops who participated in that drill will only underscore that fact, and the prospect that they may march in at any moment.
That the whole drill pretext was centered around the Obama Administration’s announcement that they intend to directly arm Syria’s rebels and officials are constantly raising the prospect of direct intervention.
US Deploys 1,500 Marines to Yemen
Press TV
(June 18, 2013) — The United States has deployed 1,500 Marines with advanced arms and military equipment to Yemen, says a Yemeni military official. Some 1,500 Marines were deployed to al-Anad military base in the country’s southern province of Lahij, al-Sharea daily quoted the official as saying on Monday.
Another 200 also arrived in the capital, Sana’a, to join the American forces already stationed in the capital’s Sheraton Hotel.
The official also said that American forces usually enter the country in small groups, but the recent large deployment could be in preparation for a possible imminent incident in the region.
The United States has stepped up its drone operations in Yemen over the past few years, killing many civilians in the Muslim country. According to the Washington-based think tank, the New America Foundation, the US drone attacks in Yemen almost tripled in 2012.
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