U.S. Army paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division depart for the Middle East from Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The United States will send approximately 750 soldiers to the Middle East immediately, Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed in a written statement Tuesday, after attacks broke out in Baghdad among hundreds of protesters in response to airstrikes in Iraq and Syria conducted by US forces on Sunday. "At the direction of the Commander in Chief, I have authorized the deployment of an infantry battalion from the Immediate Response Force of the 82nd Airborne Division (in Fort Bragg, North Carolina) to the U.S. Central Command area of operations in response to recent events in Iraq," Esper said, adding that additional forces "are prepared to deploy over the next several days."
"This deployment is an appropriate and precautionary action taken in response to increased threat levels against U.S. personnel and facilities, such as we witnessed in Baghdad today. The United States will protect our people and interests anywhere they are found around the world," Esper added.
In a statement earlier Tuesday, Esper said the US would deploy "additional forces to support our personnel at the Embassy" and that officials had "taken appropriate force protection actions to ensure the safety of American citizens, military personnel and diplomats" serving in Iraq. "As in all countries, we rely on host nation forces to assist in the protection of our personnel in country, and we call on the Government of Iraq to fulfill its international responsibilities to do so," Esper said.
The US had sent two Apache helicopters to fly over the embassy in a show of force, a US official told CNN. The US also earlier deployed about 100 US Marines from a crisis response task force based in Kuwait to bolster security at the embassy. Those Marines flew into the embassy compound aboard MV-22 Osprey aircraft. A defense official told CNN that it was unlikely that the additional soldiers coming from the 82nd Airborne will be sent to Iraq, but will instead be sent to a nearby country or countries in the region so they are positioned to respond quickly if the situation deteriorates. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News that there are currently no plans to evacuate the embassy or pull out US troops.
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