U.S. deploying additional forces to the Middle East

President Joe Biden sent members of Congress a letter on Tuesday outlining the U.S. military posture in the Middle East following Iran’s recent missile attack on Israel. Tehran launched more than 200 missiles toward Israel earlier this month, Biden explained. Since then, the United States has extended the deployment of an aircraft carrier strike group to the region.

What sorts of ships make up this carrier strike group? The USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group included destroyers toting advanced missile defense systems, Biden said. The group also included several types of advanced fighter jets, he said. In addition to the group, additional forces have been deployed. The USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with long range Tomahawk cruise missiles, would also orbit the region, Biden said.

Any word on Israel’s possible response to Iran? Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised last week that Israel’s response to Iran would be lethal, precise, and surprising. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week refuted anonymous U.S. officials’ comments that the Israeli government had agreed not to target oil or nuclear infrastructure in its response. Netanyahu insisted Israel would make its own decisions about how to respond to Iran.

Dig deeper: Read Craig A. Carter’s column in WORLD Opinions about how Israel’s national defense doctrine is evolving before the world’s very eyes.