U.S. military supports Israel against Iran with defensive operations, missile defense systems, space detection capabilities, and naval forces as part of America’s containment strategy.
President Donald Trump said in Canada on Monday that he “doesn’t want to talk about” U.S. military options. And as Secretary of State Marco Rubio so carefully stated at the start of Israel’s complex campaign, the U.S. is not participating in offensive strikes on Iran.
But make no mistake. The U.S. military is deeply involved, with defensive operations helping Israel ride out attacks, and with new, major force deployments. As of Monday, U.S. Air Force aerial refueling tankers are surging into position for intensified air operations, which could include long-range bomber strikes by the B-2 stealth bombers and their 30,000-lb. massive ordnance penetrator weapons. That’s on top of the 40,000 U.S. forces deployed in the Middle East, from the garrison in Syria to the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in the North Arabian Gulf and at many points in between.
America has no choice. The world balance of power is on the line. Preventing a nuclear Iran is crucial to the entire U.S. global military strategy of containment.
Yes, containment. That Cold War strategy, devised in 1947 to hem in Stalin and the Soviet Union, is about the only long-term U.S. national security policy that’s worked. Isolation is a no-go in the 21st Century when thugs like Iran have ballistic missiles and China has anti-satellite weapons.
Here’s a sampling of what it takes to contain Iran right now.
