US forces not there to aid Israel
US forces not there to aid Israel
The Biden administration made clear that the carrier and its accompanying force are not there to engage in combat activities on behalf of Israel.
“There is no intention or plan to put American troops on the ground in Israel,” John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said Thursday.
“We take our national security interests very seriously in the region,” he said, noting that the purpose of the bolstered force posture was “to act as a deterrent for any other actor, including Hezbollah, that might think that widening this conflict is a good idea.”
However, on Sunday, Kirby wouldn’t rule out sending in US troops to help free Americans who may be held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
Speaking to “Fox News Sunday,” Kirby said there were “no plans or intentions to put US troops on the ground in the fight between Israel and Hamas,” but when pressed repeatedly on whether the administration was considering deploying troops to save Americans, he wouldn’t say no.
“What I won’t do is rule anything in or out when it comes to getting our hostages home,” he said. “We’re working on this literally by the hour.”
Kirby said Sunday that the US knows there are Americans being held hostage by Hamas – going beyond his comments Wednesday, when he said the US believed there were Americans among the hostages.
“We don’t even know how many exactly. A small handful we know, there could be more than we know, they could be in different groups, they could be moved around,” he said Sunday.
In addition, the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a rapid reaction force capable of conducting special operations, is making preparations in case it is ordered closer to Israel to bolster the US’ force posture there, multiple US officials told CNN.
The unit, which is on board the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan, is composed of more than 2,000 Marines and sailors and would be capable of supporting a large-scale evacuation. Among the mission essential tasks for a Marine Expeditionary Unit are evacuation operations and humanitarian assistance.
No such order has been given yet to the unit, the officials said.
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