{"id":100527,"date":"2020-01-30T17:15:28","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T17:15:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smg.go-vip.net\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/30\/heres-why-patriot-missile-defense-systems-arent-in-iraq-yet\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:07:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:07:10","slug":"heres-why-patriot-missile-defense-systems-arent-in-iraq-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/01\/30\/heres-why-patriot-missile-defense-systems-arent-in-iraq-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s why Patriot missile defense systems aren\u2019t in Iraq yet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the Jan. 8 Iranian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/01\/08\/iran-gave-prior-warnings-about-missile-attacks-spurring-hopes-for-de-escalation\/\" target=\"_blank\">ballistic missile attacks<\/a> on U.S. forces in Iraq, Pentagon officials indicated they were considering moving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2020\/01\/16\/us-military-may-send-missile-defense-batteries-to-the-middle-east-in-wake-of-iran-strike\/\" target=\"_blank\">Patriot missile defense systems<\/a> into Iraq. But weeks later, there has been no movement of Patriot batteries into Iraqi territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/01\/23\/espers-balancing-act-in-pensacola-showing-support-after-shooting-while-encouraging-training-foreign-allies\/\" target=\"_blank\">Secretary of Defense Mark Esper<\/a> and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, there\u2019s a legal hurdle the military must overcome to deploy those systems there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOne of the things we have to do is make sure we have permission from the host government, and that\u2019s one of the matters we have to work on and work through,\u201d Esper said at a news conference Thursday. \u201cWe need the permission of the Iraqis. That\u2019s one issue. There may be others with regard to the placement, things like that, more tactical, operational \u2014 it\u2019s a combination of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Added Milley: \u201cWe\u2019re working with the Iraqi government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He said the \u201cscience of war\u201d is complicating the ability to quickly deploy the missile defense system. A Patriot battalion is \u201cnot a small organization, it\u2019s relatively large, so the mechanics of it all have to be worked out. And that is in fact ongoing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked if he felt the Patriot system is needed in Iraq, Milley simply said: \u201cYes.\u201d Esper later added that the decision comes from the head of U.S. Central Command, but that \u201cwe support\u201d that decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Jan. 2, a U.S. airstrike killed Iranian <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/01\/28\/poll-majority-of-americans-approve-of-soleimani-strike\/\" target=_blank>Gen. Qassem Soleimani<\/a> in Iraq. Days later, Iran retaliated by launching 16 ballistic missiles targeting the al-Asad and Irbil air bases in Iraq. Eleven missiles hit al-Asad and one struck Irbil. The Pentagon claims four failed in flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No U.S. troops were killed in the attack, although there is a growing number of uniformed personnel who are suffering from what the Pentagon calls \u201cmild traumatic brain injury\u201d \u2014 essentially concussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. has a limited number of Patriot systems available at any one time, and it is expected any system that goes to Iraq will be moved from Saudi Arabia, where they were placed in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2019\/09\/26\/200-air-and-missile-defense-soldiers-set-to-deploy-to-saudi-arabia\/\" target=_blank>latter half of 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether the Patriot system would have perfectly intercepted the Iranian missiles is impossible to know, but Milley seemed to throw his support behind the system, saying \u201cthat\u2019s what they\u2019re designed to do. Can\u2019t say for certain obviously whether in that case, at those altitudes, at those ranges, etc. if that would have happened, but that is exactly what they are deigned to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The chairman later added that given the size of the weapons used by Iran \u2014 in the 1,000- to 2,000-pound range \u2014 it remains his belief that Iran\u2019s intent \u201cwas not only to destroy facilities and equipment but also to kill people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are two factors involved: one political, one tactical.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":73493,"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":10,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"4":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","left-column","home","pentagon-congress","news","middle-column"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"5":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress","news","left-column","home"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"6":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"7":{"categories":["flashpoints","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","pentagon-congress","news"],"primary_category":"flashpoints"},"10":{"categories":["pentagon","daily-news-roundup","newsletters","mideast-africa","global"],"primary_category":"pentagon"}}},"categories":[10,29,116,117,15,86],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3302],"class_list":["post-100527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flashpoints","category-home","category-left-column","category-middle-column","category-news","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"QOUJMYGZIBB7HDEN5ITTY6FNRA","arc_canonical_url":"\/flashpoints\/2020\/01\/30\/heres-why-patriot-missile-defense-systems-arent-in-iraq-yet\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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