The US Needs to Get Out of the Middle East — Soon
Once the crisis in Gaza settles, America should withdraw from the region, not least to remain able to keep order in Europe and Asia.
Does this still make strategic sense?
Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images
The US has about 46,000 troops stationed in 11 countries across the Middle East, with all the accompanying hardware and support. Those forces are not available elsewhere, whether in Europe or East Asia, where America’s most ominous foes need deterring and its closest allies need reassuring. One of the biggest strategic questions for US President Joe Biden — or Donald Trump if he wins in November — is whether to maintain this huge American presence or draw it down.
Right now would be the wrong time for such a drastic change. America is consumed by partisan acrimony in the run-up to its election. Israel is waging war in the Gaza Strip and stands accused of genocide. And Iran-backed militias from Yemen to the Levant have not only the Zionists but also US troops in their crosshairs. One such group killed three Americans with a drone strike on a US base in Jordan just the other day. If the US were to pull out now, it would hand Tehran a propaganda victory and risk chaos reminiscent of 2021, when Biden fecklessly abandoned Afghanistan.