The United States will step up its military deployment against China and Russia, while trying to maintain effective deterrence against Iran and jihadist groups in the Middle East, a senior Pentagon official said on Monday.
The Pentagon will in particular modernize its bases on the island of Guam, in the Pacific, in Australia, underlining the priority given to China, whose Washington wants to counter the territorial ambitions in the region, indicated Mara Karlin, in charge of the strategy at the Department of Defense, announcing to the press the completion of the report on the new military posture of the United States in the world.
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The new posture “recommends more cooperation with allies and partners in the region to propose initiatives that contribute to regional stability and deter China from possible military aggression,” she said.
Another official from the US Department of Defense had earlier indicated, on condition of anonymity, that the United States was also studying “initiatives with our allies and partners to strengthen our credible deterrence against Russia.” .
“We’re getting things done a bit”
As this report is classified as a defense secret, the Pentagon has not given any details on how the United States could strengthen its military apparatus aimed at countering the territorial ambitions of Moscow or Beijing.
Adjustments to the US military deployment in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region are being discussed “but in this first year of administration, this is not the time to develop major strategic changes in our posture”, he added. explained the manager who requested anonymity.
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“We’re getting things done a bit,” added Mara Karlin. “And what I hope is that over the next few years you will see things progress more and more.”
US military posture in the Middle East reduced
The Pentagon has, moreover, already announced that it will strengthen its presence in Australia, where some 2,500 Marine Corps soldiers have so far been deployed each year in rotation of a few hundred for exercises. In Europe, President Joe Biden reversed the decision to limit the American military personnel deployed in Germany to 2,500, and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to NATO, which his predecessor Donald Trump had questioned.
With the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the recall to the United States of the Patriot anti-missile batteries that had been deployed in Saudi Arabia after missile fire at its oil fields attributed to pro-Iranian groups, the American military posture in the Middle East appears. scaled down.
In Iraq, Washington concluded an agreement with the Iraqi government in the summer which provides for the departure by the end of the year of all the “combat forces” of the country, although 2,500 American soldiers will remain there. “Our commitment is to continue to support the anti-Islamic State coalition,” said the official, who requested anonymity.