Foreign Policy.
Gen. James Mattis, commander of U.S. Central Command, is
accelerating a military buildup around the Persian Gulf, with new
provisions added to parry possible Iranian military moves and to strike at
targets inside Iran if necessary. This buildup comes just as a suicide bomb
attack in Bulgaria on July 18 killed five Israeli tourists. In a statement,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "This is a global Iranian
terror onslaught and Israel will react firmly to it." Whether this bombing will
result in Israeli military action against Iran remains to be seen. What is
clear is that Mattis wants his forces in the region ready for that event.
Military planners at the Pentagon seem to be granting Mattis
most, but
not all, of his requests for reinforcements. Giving the general what he
wants right now is not cost-free, however, and comes with its own set of risks. Now that
the Pentagon has agreed to step up its commitment of air and naval power to
deter Iran, the question becomes whether planners will be able to sustain such
a commitment to an open-ended problem while the Pacific is making its own
growing demands for U.S. air and naval assets. If not, the Pentagon will have
to come up with alternate ways of sustaining Mattis's requirements while
meeting growing demands for ships and aircraft in Asia. If the tensions in the
Gulf continue to mount, the planned "pivot" to the Pacific may have to be
indefinitely postponed.
