4 Ways the Pentagon Is Risking Escalation in Israel

We just doubled our attack jet presence in the Middle East

Unsure of what to do about the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Biden administration is instead happy to focus on Iran, the authorized Washington punching bag.

But could the U.S. military be provoking the very conflict with Iran that it says it is seeking to prevent? There’s no reason — yet — to think that Iran needs to be a target. Despite allegations that Tehran directed Hamas’s attack, the U.S intelligence community doesn’t have any evidence to support this, as I reported for The Intercept.

So significant are the Pentagon’s efforts to deter Iran that they inspired this ominous sentence in The New York Times: “For now, U.S. officials said, the deployment of additional forces is meant to deter Iran…But,” the report continues, “American commanders expressed fears that the United States could get dragged into the conflict.”

The U.S. finds itself caught between two parties. Israel just suffered its worst attack in 50 years including the deaths of women and children. In response to the Hamas attack, civilians in Gaza had their electricity cut off and are being forced from the homes.

So instead of dealing with Israel-Palestine directly, Washington is doing one of the things it does best: waving its fist at Iran. Unlike Hamas, Iran is a conventional superpower with the kind of military Washington knows how to fight, and so that’s what its doing — despite the risk this carries of provoking a response from the Iranians that could spiral out of control.

Here are the four most dangerous actions the U.S. military has undertaken to supposedly “deter” Iran :

1.  USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group 

Secretary of Defense Gen. LLoyd Austin this past Sunday announced that Pentagon was sending to the Eastern Mediterranean — i.e., off the coast of Israel — in order “to bolster regional deterrence efforts.” This includes not just the aircraft carrier Ford, the lead ship of her class, but the entire strike group of warships: the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Normandy, the Arleigh-Burke-class guided missile destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt. The Ford carries with it a fleet of fighter jets and Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Naval exercises in past months have provoked similar exercises by Iran.

2.             Fighter Jets

The U.S. Air Force has also taken steps to beef up its fighter aircraft squadrons facing Iran, including the F-35, F-15, F-16 and A-10, the Pentagon announced.  As a result, the F-16, A-10 and F-15E aircraft on the ground in the Persian Gulf doubled in numbers, amounting to over 100 attack planes, according to The New York Times. 

3.             Arms 

The Pentagon is also rapidly expanding Israel’s access to munitions, it announced. Most, it says, are for Israel’s Iron Dome defensive system, which also guards Israel from Iranian ballistic missile attack. But Pentagon press releases also say “ammunition” is flowing to Israel. Could that mean air-delivered bombs to replenish Israel? The U.S. also quietly maintains bases in Israel for the provision of munitions, as was recently reported. 

4.             The Dwight D. Eisenhower

Just this weekend, Gen. Austin announced that he would be sending a second aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, to the region. Its purpose, Austin said, is “to deter hostile actions against Israel or any efforts toward widening this war following Hamas attack” — a statement clearly directed at Iran.

Iran will undoubtedly respond with its own set of moves. Let’s hope we aren’t just widening this war.