According to CNN, the United States military is deploying more troops to the Middle East, weeks after Vice President Kamala Harris stated there were no active duty members in combat zones. Pentagon Press Secretary General Patrick Ryder confirmed the move, citing the increasing instability in the region amid escalating tensions between Israel and Lebanon.
The Lebanese health ministry claims the death toll from the recent Israeli airstrikes stands at 492. Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that some of the casualties were likely caused by the many secondary explosions when the raids caused weapons caches used by Hezbollah terrorists in civilian homes to detonate.
Hagari shared photos showing long-range rockets stored inside a house in Lebanon.
“Let me be clear: Hezbollah is responsible for this situation,” he added.
“In light of the increased tensions in the Middle East, and out of an abundance of caution, we are sending a small number of additional U.S. military personnel forward to augment our forces that are already in the region,” Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon.
Ryder declined to say how many troops were deployed, where they were sent, and what branch they belonged to.
The US already has thousands of troops in the region and has positioned assets in the eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea amid the heightened tensions, including destroyers, the Lincoln carrier strike group, and fighter aircraft, Ryder said.
Monday’s development comes as previous claims by President Biden about no U.S. troop deaths under his watch continue to face scrutiny.
Before deciding to forgo reelection, Biden claimed in his disastrous debate with former President Trump that no U.S. service members died on his watch.
“Truth is, I’m the only president this century that doesn’t have any – this, this decade – that doesn’t have any troops dying anywhere in the world,” Biden stated.
The assertion sparked a storm on social media, where many were quick to point out its inaccuracy.
Contrary to Biden’s claim, 13 U.S. service members lost their lives in a tragic suicide bombing at Kabul airport during the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
In March 2023, a report in The Washington Free Beacon detailed how U.S. forces could have prevented the devastating attack by an ISIS suicide bomber at the Abbey Gate entrance to Hamid Karzai International Airport. Instead, the blast caused by the terrorist’s explosive belt resulted in the deaths of at least 183 people, including 13 U.S. service members. Gripping testimony was given on Capitol Hill by one of the soldiers who survived.
U.S. snipers near the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul, by then the only way out of Taliban-occupied country, had a chance to kill a suspected suicide bomber as he approached a crowded airport entryway.
Contrary to Biden’s claim, 13 U.S. service members lost their lives in a tragic suicide bombing at Kabul airport during the botched U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Instead, they never received the authority to take the shot that could have saved hundreds of lives, despite having plenty of intelligence and enough time to act.
The Pentagon’s initial narrative concerning the bombing quickly came under scrutiny. Despite skepticism, the Defense Department originally framed it as an unavoidable tragedy amidst the chaos of the withdrawal.
However, a U.S. Marine’s GoPro camera footage and survivor accounts painted a starkly different picture.
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