[IsraelTimes] Biden says he’s trying to deescalate tensions; Pentagon official warns Mideast in ‘dangerous situation’ but widened conflict not a given, as USS Truman heads back to Mediterranean
The US is sending a small number of additional troops to the Middle East in response to a sharp spike in violence between Israel and Lebanese terror group Hezbollah that has raised the risk of a greater regional war, the Pentagon said Monday.
Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder would provide no details on how many additional forces or what they would be tasked to do. The US currently has about 40,000 troops in the region.
"In light of increased tension in the Middle East and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional US military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region. But for operational security reasons, I’m not going to comment on or provide specifics," Pentagon front man Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told news hounds.
On Monday, the aircraft carrier USS Truman, two destroyers, and a cruiser set sail from Norfolk, Virginia, headed to the Mediterranean on a regularly scheduled deployment, opening the possibility that the US could keep both the Truman and the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which is in the Gulf of Oman, nearby in case further violence breaks out.
The announcement came after cross-border violence intensified Monday, with Israel carrying out strikes on some 1,300 targets across Leb
 ...an Iranian satrapy currently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
according to Israel Defense Forces, and warning civilians to flee residential neighborhoods where Hezbollah is thought to have placed weapons and personnel.
Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Iranian proxy with a powerful armed wing, has fired hundreds of rockets at Israel in recent days, including deep into the country, raising the specter of all-out war that could leave Lebanon in ruins and devastate parts of Israel.
At the White House, US President Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem machine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family...
said Lebanon and Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response ...
would feature prominently in his discussions with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Before their meeting, Biden said he had been briefed on latest developments between Israel and Lebanon, adding, "I continue to be in contact with our counterparts and we’re working to deescalate in a way that allows people to return home safely."
Sheikh Mohammed said his country had an "unwavering commitment" to working with the United States and deepening the strategic partnership between the allies.
Vice President Kamala Harris
Former Oakland mayor Willie Brown's' former mistress
is also slated to discuss efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal in a separate meeting with the UAE leader, who is in the US for the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
General Assembly high-level summit this week.
"Given the tensions, given the escalation, as I highlighted, there is the potential for a wider regional conflict. I don’t think we’re there yet, but it’s a dangerous situation," Ryder said.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin held back-to-back calls with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the weekend as he pressed for a ceasefire and a reduction of tensions in the region, Ryder said. The Biden administration has repeatedly called for the Israel-Hezbollah border crisis to be resolved through diplomacy.
The front man declined to say if the additional forces being deployed might support the evacuation of US citizens, after the State Department warned Americans Saturday to leave Lebanon due to the mounting conflict.
Israeli security and rescue forces work at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on September 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gil Nechushtan)
The US presence in the Middle East is designed both to help defend Israel and protect US and allied personnel and assets. Navy warships are scattered across the region, from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Oman, and both Air Force and Navy fighter jets are strategically based at several locations to be better prepared to respond to any attacks.
"We have more capability in the region today than we did on April 14th when Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
conducted its drone and missile attack against Israel," Ryder said, referring to an Iranian attack on Israel using hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones, most of which were shot down by Israel and allies, including the US.
"So all of those forces combined provide us with the options to be able to protect our forces should they be attacked," he said. 
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