US plans to bolster military presence in Gulf
US: The United States plans to bolster its military presence
in the Gulf after the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq announced by
President Barack Obama, The New York Times reported late Sunday.
Citing unnamed officials and diplomats, the newspaper said the
repositioning could include new combat forces in Kuwait able to respond
to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran.
Obama announced this month that all US troops would leave Iraq by the
end of the year, ending a long war which created deep political
divisions and estranged the United States from its allies.
After nearly nine years, the deaths of more than 4,400 US troops,
tens of thousands of Iraqis and the expenditure of hundreds of billions
of dollars, Obama said the last American soldier would leave with his
head held high.
After unsuccessfully pressing both the Obama administration and the
Iraqi government to permit as many as 20,000 US troops to remain in Iraq
beyond 2011, the Pentagon is now drawing up an alternative, The Times
said.
In addition to negotiations over maintaining a ground combat presence
in Kuwait, the United States is considering sending more naval warships
through international waters in the region, according to the report.
The Obama administration is also seeking to expand military ties with
the six nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, the paper noted.
While the United States has close bilateral military relationships
with each, it wants to foster a new "security architecture" for the Gulf
that would integrate air and naval patrols and missile defense, The
Times said.
AFP |