A January U.S.<\/u> Air Force personnel memo obtained by The Intercept describes military orders to be \u201con standby to forward deploy to support troops in the case of on ground US involvement in the Israel Hamas war.\u201d According to a separate personnel document, the standby order related to personnel deployed last year to Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While the documents do not suggest that U.S. military ground involvement in the war is forthcoming, the January memo is the latest intimation of the Pentagon\u2019s preparations to support Israel in the wake of Hamas\u2019s October 7 attack. Days after the attack, the U.S. military reportedly<\/a> put 2,000 troops on prepare-to-deploy orders for potential support to Israel, though from neighboring countries \u2014 orders that were confirmed by a procurement document obtained by The Intercept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n The Department of Defense did not respond to a request for comment on the personnel memo about preparing for ground involvement, but in the past the White House has stressed that its support for Israel in the Gaza war would not include boots on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are no plans or intentions to put U.S. boots on the ground in combat in Israel,\u201d White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said<\/a> on October 17. \u201cBut as we\u2019ve also said, we have significant national security interests in the region.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Two days after Kirby\u2019s remarks, the White House inadvertently shared<\/a> a picture of President Joe Biden in Israel posing alongside members of the secretive U.S. special operations units, before quickly deleting it. In late October, the New York Times reported<\/a> that American special operations personnel were in Israel to help with hostage rescue efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The documents obtained by The Intercept provide a stark reminder of the pervasive U.S. military presence in the Middle East, with personnel deployed to theaters where many Americans think the mission ended long ago \u2014 and how quickly those orders can be repurposed for new conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The records, for instance, involve personnel deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S. military\u2019s name for the war against the Islamic State group. Though ISIS was driven from its last strongholds years ago, the war persists, providing a legal basis for continued U.S. military presence in Iraq and Syria<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n U.S. Still in the Middle East<\/h2>\n\n\n\n