2y ago

Pentagon puts troops on notice to prepare to deploy to support Israel: reports

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a limited number of U.S. troops to prepare for deployment in support of Israel, as reported by multiple sources.

Approximately 2,000 troops have been selected to be on standby for advisory and medical assistance.

The troops will be drawn from various branches of the U.S. military, including those already stationed in the Middle East and nearby Europe.

While their specific units and deployment locations have not been disclosed, it has been emphasized that they will not have a combat role.

The U.S. is extending support to Israel, which is engaged in a conflict with Hamas, primarily focusing on intelligence and planning assistance for potential hostage rescue operations.

90 comments

Just why? Israel is a terrible ally and have continued to allow settlers to move into the West Bank stopping any attempts at a peace process. The US should wipe their hands of this mess instead getting into another quagmire.
- because the Christian death cult running the states wants it to happen so their imaginary friend can come back.
  
  Yeah, this is way more serious than people realize. The extremist Christian evangelical movement has a disproportionate amount of influence over Israel and how the world views it. They fund schools, museums, archaeological digs and many other things, but with an obvious bias, and often not in the best interest of anyone but those who share their apocalyptic worldview.
  It’s pretty wild, and can come off as a bit conspiratorial, once you realize that much of the American support for Israel is for the purpose of preparing for a world-ending war and the resurrection of a mythical character who lives in a collection of short stories.
  
  Yup the far Christian right want all jews in Israel because their book of fiction says all jews need to be in Isreal to bring about the rapture. Remember when Trump said jews should have dual citizenship?
  
  Eh, Israel also is supposed to protect “our interests” in the Middle East, strategically positioned, etc. As an old friend who had a political blog for the Chicago Times once said (glad he’s not here to see this crap): all wars are Wall Street’s wars.
  
  I want everything they think is going to signal the end times to happen just so when it doesn't they have no more excuses.
  I know they'll just reinterpret and invent more, but it would still be funny to the rest of us.
  
  I think this claim is very overstated. People online often say this, but I've never heard of real people saying this.
- “Settlers”
- Because Hamas kidnapped some American citizens and is holding them in Gaza. The US would likely prefer to attempt any rescue themselves or at least assist in any attempts.
- have continued to allow settlers to move into the West Bank stopping any attempts peace process.
  This is exactly why; they keep the place destabilized.
- Unfortunately Israel is the only "western aligned" middle east country, so for that reason we go all watermelon eating contest on their bhole
  
  is that really why ? I've been wondering
  
  We don't have universal health care in America and it's their fault but we pay for them to have universal health care. So no, they're not our ally, we're vassals.
  
  Gee I wonder why Israel is the only Western aligned middle east country it's almost like they do a genocide and the West sends aircraft carriers to protect them
I do not support this
So this is what its like watching a powder keg get packed. I am not fighting in WW3 for sake of an apartheid state. They pushed these people to their breaking point. If you don't want devils, stop forcing people to live in hell.
- I read a very enlightening comment earlier, that explained how the Netanyahoo regime and Hamas were co-dependent. Because Hamas keeps being terrorists, Netanyahoo can stay in power, and because the IDF keeps killing Palestinians, Hamas keeps getting support.
  
  USA fighting by proxy at the least. To combine parts of what two other commenters said, “I do not support this” “…apartheid state.”
  BDS. Free Palestine 🇵🇸
- Agree in general but the thought is that US involvement comes if Iran fucks around in the west bank.
  Israel doesn't need physical US help obliterating civilians in gaza
Israel does not need US troops help to slaughter mass Palestinians. They have had no problem doing that on their own for decades. We need to keep our troops out of further war crimes. We committed enough of those in Iraq.
Should Hamas committed a brutal act of violence and terrorism like they just did, no. Can Israel respond to that yes. Does that response give them the right to make a million civillians homeless or dead, and steal more land, no.
- If I had to guess, this would be more about putting the breaks on genocide by giving us a hand on the wheel. Given how the Biden admin has handled Ukraine, I'd say that their team has been very pragmatic about escalation.
  That said, we just got out of one pointless forever war in Afghanistan. I don't think we need another.
- But have you considered how much money the weapons industry shareholders will make?
  
  weapons industry shareholders
  They're eagerly seeking yacht upgrades, practically drooling at the prospect of a regional conflict, likely daydreaming about the financial windfall.
  
  And bankers.
- I mean look at all of our past successes in the Middle East /s
- Hamas kidnapped some American citizens and is holding them in Gaza. The US would likely prefer to attempt any rescue themselves or at least assist in any attempts.
"Are we the baddies?"
- Yes, always have been. We just have a really good PR team.
  
  The PR team:
US considers humanitarian deployment of troops to provide advice and medical aid
Lemmy: omg how TERRIBLE
- As a genuine question, how often does the US do this? If this is relatively common then it's probably fine. If this is unique or step one of what eventually becomes something else, there is some cause for concern.
  I'm not saying it's a good/bad idea, just want to put it in context.
  
  Pretty common. Obviously, this is a higher profile situation than most, but 90% of the military is 'things other than shooting and killing', so opportunities to combine good practice and good PR are often taken. Because of things like this, you end up with US Army dentists doing free drillings and extractions in Africa, shipping medical supplies to countries that need it, etc etc. Idle hands are devils' work, and all that.
  
  This is a relatively common type of deployment to places where the US wants to be seen helping but doesn't want to participate in the actual shooting. So they set up some field hospitals and send some people over for things like military intelligence coordination
  
  Every single natural disaster that happens on US soil or territories are handled with help from US Army National Guard distributing rations, water, and engineers rebuilding everything for people using gov $$$.
  Of course this is common for a country with a supply chain so powerful it can deploy a fucking ice cream barge protected by a massive carrier battle group to Japan in the middle of the most fiercest combat during WW2 (there is a story circulating about how a Japanese navy admiral truly realized they lost the war by realizing that existed), or an entire Airborne division rapidly planned and air dropped from the middle of Virginia into anywhere it wants on the planet in 72 hours.
- Yeah I feel like people are jumping to conclusions here
And here I was wondering how Israel was going to be able to stand up to the multitudes of the Palestinian armed forces.
American troops operate under a uniform code of military justice. The IDF is headed by someone who called Palestinians "human animals". While I don't want American troops involved, Americans would be less likely to commit war crimes and genocide.
- The IDF have been extremely critical of their leadership. Historically, soldiers being forced to fight a war for leadership they don't support frequently ends badly for leadership when they return home.
- Endless war. My tax dollars can’t support universal health care, free and reduced breakfast/lunch for school children, decent housing, education, women’s reproductive rights (which Israel has), crumbling infrastructure, though.
- Humanitarian like Abu Gihrab and Gitmo. :-/
- Americans would be less likely to commit war crimes and genocide.
  You haven't studied American warmaking history in the slightest, have you?
  
  I said "less likely", I didn't say zero.
  
  History is something we learn from. I'd like to believe our military learned from our past discretions.
- Yeah, so they're saying the US should support one religion over another? Both are nonsense. US support so far has only continued the cycle of violence.
- Choosing to support no evil may ultimately result in the greatest evil occuring. This is actually the subject of one of the more famous Witcher short stories, and it highlights this very well. I'll try to quickly summarize.
  A wizard tells him to kill this one girl because she was born in a celestial event that was a bad omen. The girl tells him to lure out the wizard so she and her gang can kill him. Geralt refuses both.
  The girl confronts the wizard, who is safe behind his tower. Unless he comes out, her gang will start killing the townspeople wantonly. The wizard doesn't give a shit. Geralt steps in and kills the gang and the girl, and tells the wizard he'll kill him too if he does anything to her corpse.
  The lesser evils were killing the wizard or killing the gang, and Geralt preferred to pick neither of them. But in doing so, an even greater evil became possible. Unless he took action, the worst outcome would come to pass.
  This honestly has nothing to do with Israel at this point. I'm just saying that deciding against lesser evils may, in itself, may be a worse evil. Inaction is still an action.
- And here I was, thinking the Puritans had died out.
This... Seems sensible? Iran has threatened to enter Gaza, and everyone should agree that that happening would be really bad. They're the ones funding Hamas.
- With the attention it's brought, and the statements from Iran, I'm a bit worried that whatever they've been receiving from Russia in exchange for Iranian weapons has given Iran an inflated head, and feel like they can finally have something go their way.
- I truly fucking hate this situation, the deployment of American troops. Regrettably, I can already envision the headlines: 'U.S. Troops killed in Israel,' serving as a potential catalyst for dragging the U.S. into a regional conflict.
no combat role thank god, but still this seems like a mistake
- Press X to doubt
Yesterday: Biden warns Israel that occupying the Gaza strip is a big mistake (strategically)
Today: US puts troops on standby in Israel.
Well, I guess we now know what the US thinks is a better plan. And it appears to be basically the standard US plan of placing military units all across the map.
Sometimes I wonder if the US will ever have a Roman-style "we extended our borders too far to adequately defend the empire" tipping point.
- I get where you're coming from but they're sending a limited numbers in non-combatant roles only (for now). Providing existing allies with that sort of thing isn't extending borders
  
  in non-combatant roles only (for now)
  Consultancy roles are a shield for providing strategic support and direction without visibly endangering your own troops and engaging in unambiguously direct acts of war. Providing existing allies with resources is not a free service either, even if it only costs "you owe us one" future diplomatic and economic pressure. The US did not get to where it is through altruism.
- Whatever anyone says about the historical context aside, in the plainest of terms this war began with an enormous assault by Hamas against Israel, and so the US is bound by treaty to assist - whether they like it or not.
  
  I doubt the pentagon made this decision ignoring the wider context and long-term motivations of all parties involved, and I think it would be a mistake to reduce any conflict in the world to such a simple equation.
  Also, does Israel have a defence treaty with the US? This is a genuine question. I was under the impression there was only a tax treaty, and Israel isn't a member of NATO either, which I thought would exclude that.
Give people a weeks notice that you're going to turn the whole of Israel, Gaza and everything else in this little religious hot hole into a glass bowl nuclear style. Repatriate the people all over the earth equally. They've fought over these silly little "holy" spots for too long. Its time to take their toys off them and make them sit in a corner.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a select number of U.S. troops to prepare to deploy in support of Israel, multiple outlets have reported.
About 2,000 such troops were chosen this weekend to be ready to assist with advising and medical support, The Wall Street Journal first reported.
The outlet noted the troops wouldn’t serve in a combat role, and no infantry had been put on prepare-to-deploy order.
Fox News later reported Monday that Austin has given “be ready to deploy” orders for a select number of American troops.
The U.S. has continuously expressed support for Israel after the country was attacked, with the Pentagon over the weekend announcing it was sending a second carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean.
Washington has also sent munitions and interceptors for Israel’s Iron Dome defense system and moved fighter jets to the region.
The original article contains 346 words, the summary contains 131 words. Saved 62%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Meanwhile we are shifting massively more assets into the region, including two aircraft carriers. This has all the hallmarks of a Vietnam style creep into a war. Can we just fucking not?
https://youtu.be/LasrD6SZkZk?si=JmqNdVvdiK1sQVOt
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
  https://piped.video/LasrD6SZkZk?si=JmqNdVvdiK1sQVOt
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
This feels like the US deploying troops to work side by side with Israeli, to try and reign in the Israeli a bit.
Going in as a sort of peacekeeping force like NATO usually does would dare to suggest Israel it's in the wrong, so they opt to babysit the Israeli troops as they hopefully won't go to overboard when being watched by US troops.
- reign
  Rein - hopefully they don't intend to reign.
- That is an interesting way to look at it, but from the other lens it will be seen differently.

90 comments