Military deploys 3,500 more troops to Middle East after U.S. assassination of top Iranian commander
The U.S. Military is deploying 3,500 more troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to U.S. Central Command in Kuwait, according to NBC News. The deployment in the wake of a U.S. airstrike that killed a top Iranian military commander, Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, appears to be in addition to some 650 soldiers from the division deployed just days ago, bringing the total to about 4,000 additional U.S. troops in the region.
Trump supposedly wanted to reduce the U.S. imprint in the region when he announced a troop withdrawal from Syria last year. But even as some U.S. troops left Syria, more arrived. All told, about 900 U.S. soldiers are now in Syria, only 100 shy of the 1,000 troops Trump pulled out.
So bottom line: Trump decreased our troop level in Syria by about 100 soldiers but raised it by some 4,000 in Kuwait.
