Following Biden’s MidEast visit, Pentagon aims to do more with less
The White House wants the Pentagon to bring Israeli tech to link up Arab air defenses, but can progress be achieved without deploying additional American units?
The Pentagon is pressing ahead with plans to expand military cooperation between Arab countries and Israel as a bulwark against Iran following President Joe Biden’s visit to the Middle East.
In Qatar last week, the Pentagon’s Middle East policy director Dana Stroul discussed “ways to strengthen and integrate a regional security architecture” and bolster the country’s armed forces.
Meanwhile, CENTCOM chief Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla and two other top commanders of American forces in the region toured military sites in Saudi Arabia, including naval bases on the Red Sea and a Patriot missile battery near Jeddah.
Earlier in the week, Kurilla met with military leaders in Israel and Kuwait to discuss what he described as “a glide path” toward integrating air defense systems across the region in order to better defend against Iran’s missiles and drones.
