US President Biden sends antimissile system THAAD and 100 US troops to Israel, deepening US Role
Extracts: The mission marks the first significant deployment of US troops to Israel since the war in Gaza began and comes just weeks before the US presidential election in which US involvement in the conflict has been a polarizing issue on the campaign trail
The United States is sending one of its most advanced missile defense systems THAAD and about 100 US troops to Israel, deepening US involvement in the escalating war in the Middle East amid US expectations of an imminent Israeli assault on Iran
US officials have been encouraging Israel to avoid targeting Iran’s nuclear, oil and gas sites out of fear that it could spark an even larger escalation that upends the global economy
The deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system or THAAD is the latest indication that the United States expects the Israeli assault to be,
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“so comprehensive that the Iranians will have to respond”
said Aaron David Miller, a Middle East expert who has advised multiple Republican and Democratic administrations
The THAAD deployment adds to the more than 50,000 tons of armaments and military equipment the United States has sent Israel since the start of the war last October, according to Israel’s Defense Ministry
