The Pentagon is conducting an internal assessment of the future U.S. military presence in the Middle East, including the possibility of reducing forces in the Persian Gulf and relocating some troops and equipment to Israel and other locations after Iranian attacks inflicted heavy damage on American bases.

The preliminary assessment involves the Defense Department, Joint Chiefs of Staff and U.S. Central Command and follows months of Iranian attacks that damaged more than 200 American facilities.

Officials stressed that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has not ordered a formal review and that the discussions remain in the preliminary planning stage. However, the extensive damage has prompted officials to consider whether heavily damaged bases should be rebuilt or whether forces should instead be moved away from particularly vulnerable locations.

Bases in areas including Kuwait were heavily damaged during the conflict, while more than 1,000 air-defense interceptors have already been used. The cost of the conflict is expected to reach approximately $37.5 billion by the end of September.

Internal discussions involving CENTCOM commander Adm. Bradley Cooper have included potentially shifting some forces and equipment westward to locations considered safer, including Jordan, Israel and Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

Such a move, however, could leave Gulf allies with reduced protection against Tehran and fuel disagreements within the Trump administration between officials who support maintaining a robust U.S. military presence and those seeking to reduce overseas commitments and focus resources on challenges posed by China.

The possibility of deploying additional American forces to bases in Israel, including Ovda Airbase, has also generated internal concerns.

Some U.S. officials have reportedly warned that an expanded American presence in Israel could create information-security and counterintelligence risks amid growing Pentagon concerns over potential Israeli espionage.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)