Former US military officials have expressed the opinion that Washington may soon reconsider its military presence in the Middle East due to Iranian strikes, according to infohub.kz.
As the Financial Times writes, for nearly four decades the American presence in the region has been based on a chain of sprawling bases stretching across the Persian Gulf. However, in six months of war, Iran has called their future into question. Tehran, which has struck American facilities with short-range missiles and drones, quickly showed how vulnerable facilities close to the Iranian coast have become.
Now, according to military experts, the Trump administration must decide whether to spend billions of dollars on rebuilding these facilities or to adjust its military presence in the Middle East to meet the demands of a new era. Hal Brands, a fellow at Johns Hopkins University, said the US needs to redistribute its presence in the region because military installations, especially large ones, are highly vulnerable. In his words, a redistribution of US military forces away from the Persian Gulf could be seen in the near future.
Dana Stroul, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, noted that the open design of bases in the Persian Gulf is a relic of the past, ill-suited for modern conflicts. Nate Swanson, former director for Iran at the US National Security Council, believes that the US might move westward instead of rebuilding damaged bases.