{"id":37096,"date":"2019-05-23T20:16:30","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T20:16:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/23\/how-many-troops-to-the-mideast-medias-got-it-wrong-says-acting-secdef\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:10:49","slug":"how-many-troops-to-the-mideast-medias-got-it-wrong-says-acting-secdef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/23\/how-many-troops-to-the-mideast-medias-got-it-wrong-says-acting-secdef\/","title":{"rendered":"How many troops to the Mideast? Media\u2019s got it wrong says acting SecDef"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon is not considering an influx of 5,000 to 10,000 U.S. troops into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/07\/b-52-bombers-are-off-to-rebuff-iran-after-threats-made-against-us-troops-but-dod-wont-say-what-those-were\/\" target=_blank>U.S. Central Command\u2019s area of operations<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/11\/patriot-missiles-and-an-amphibious-transport-ship-sent-to-middle-east-to-deter-iran\/\" target=_blank>acting secretary of defense <\/a>said Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several news outlets reported Wednesday that the Defense Department was considering a request from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/01\/17\/trump-still-poised-for-a-drawdown-in-afghanistan-after-the-deadliest-year-for-us-troops-since-2014\/\" target=_blank>Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr.<\/a>, the CENTCOM commander, to strengthen his defenses against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marinecorpstimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/05\/09\/marine-expeditionary-unit-on-kearsarge-transits-strait-of-hormuz-amid-iranian-tensions\/\" target=_blank>potential Iranian threats<\/a> by sending additional U.S. forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI got up this morning and read that we were sending 10,000 troops to the Middle East and then I read about, more recently, there\u2019s 5,000,\u201d Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told the press pool Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is no 10,000 and there is no 5,000,&#8221; he added. \u201cNumbers get floated out there and you\u2019ve got lots of good sources of information. What I\u2019m telling you is: Those sources right now aren\u2019t feeding you right information. As soon as anything changes, I\u2019ll let you know. I really will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shanahan said he is in regular contact with McKenzie and the discussions so far have focused on qualitative changes, such as \u201cdo we have the right assets in the region,&#8221; but not exact numbers, though he said any changes \u201cmay involve sending additional troops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shanahan also said he will be speaking with the chairman of the joint chiefs on the issue soon and will give the president an update on the security situation regarding Iran. If additional troops were sent, the joint chiefs would have to help determine where they would be pulled from, Shanahan added.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/05\/15\/allies-hunker-down-in-iraq-drop-out-over-us-tensions-with-iran\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5245644.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Allies hunker down in Iraq, drop out over US tensions with Iran<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. allies involved in operations in the Middle East appear uninterested in the increasingly bellicose rhetoric from the White House and Pentagon regarding Iran.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019ll have a discussion with him. If things change, then my plan will be to update Congress because they\u2019ve certainly been very clear to keep us current,\u201d Shanahan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The conversations that have taken place so far are part of the \u201cnormal back-and-forth that we have with CENTCOM,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201cWe\u2019re at a high elevated level given all of the dynamics that are in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Pentagon said earlier this month that their intelligence indicates an increased threat to U.S. troops in the region from the Iranian military and its proxy forces, though officials have declined to comment on-the-record regarding the nature of those alleged threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reuters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-iran-pentagon\/pentagon-mulling-u-s-military-request-to-send-5000-troops-to-middle-east-officials-idUSKCN1SS2XT\" target=\"_blank\">reported <\/a>the 5,000 number, noting that the troop request was made by CENTCOM, and it was not clear whether the Pentagon would approve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/05\/14\/pentagon-disputes-british-generals-assessment-on-iranian-threat\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5069218.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Pentagon disputes British general\u2019s assessment on Iranian threat<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">U.S. Central Command announced it raised the threat level in Iraq and Syria, rebuking comments made by a top British general with the coalition fighting the Islamic State.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/www.apnews.com\/a770998e42de4ed98257c91210b2fbbf\" target=_blank>reported <\/a>that military officials were planning to present plans to the White House to send up to 10,000 troops to the region, but said it was unknown whether the White House would approve the increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CENTCOM and other U.S. combatant commands regularly request, and are sometimes denied, troop increases, Reuters noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSo that is not the number. What we\u2019re focused on right now is: Do we have the right force protection in the Middle East,\u201d Shanahan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many Democrat lawmakers in Congress have voiced concern that the increased military presence, including an aircraft carrier strike group and B-52 bomber task force, are unnecessarily provoking Iran and could escalate tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe want to avoid the risk of Iranian miscalculation. So, I think those are fair comments,\u201d Shanahan said of lawmaker concerns. \u201cOur job is deterrence. This is not about war. We have a mission there in the Middle East: Freedom of navigation; counterterrorism in Syria and Iraq; defeating al Qaida in Yemen; and the security of Israel and Jordan.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pentagon is not considering an influx of 5,000-10,000 U.S. troops into U.S. Central Command\u2019s area of operations, the Pentagon said Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":73368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news","pentagon-congress","flashpoints","left-column","home","middle-column"],"primary_category":"your-military"},"4":{"categories":["your-air-force","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","middle-column","home","pentagon-congress","flashpoints"],"primary_category":"your-air-force"},"6":{"categories":["your-marine-corps","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress","flashpoints","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-marine-corps"},"7":{"categories":["your-navy","news","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress","flashpoints","middle-column","home"],"primary_category":"your-navy"}}},"categories":[100,8,23,92,93,12,25,68,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3385],"class_list":["post-37096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"WPMKXQYQ2JFDLAI76X7WWNUHKU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/23\/how-many-troops-to-the-mideast-medias-got-it-wrong-says-acting-secdef\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How many troops to the Mideast? Media\u2019s got it wrong says acting SecDef - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Pentagon is not considering an influx of 5,000-10,000 U.S. troops into U.S. Central Command\u2019s area of operations, the Pentagon said Thursday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How many troops to the Mideast? Media\u2019s got it wrong says acting SecDef\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Pentagon is not considering an influx of 5,000-10,000 U.S. troops into U.S. Central Command\u2019s area of operations, the Pentagon said Thursday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/23\/how-many-troops-to-the-mideast-medias-got-it-wrong-says-acting-secdef\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Army Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-23T20:16:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T03:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kyle Rempfer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kyle Rempfer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/your-army\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/how-many-troops-to-the-mideast-medias-got-it-wrong-says-acting-secdef\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/news\\\/your-army\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/23\\\/how-many-troops-to-the-mideast-medias-got-it-wrong-says-acting-secdef\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/armytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"How many troops to the Mideast? 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