WASHINGTON: The US will send additional troops and military assets to the Middle East as operations against Iran continue, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine said on Monday.
Speaking at the Pentagon alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Caine stressed that the campaign, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury,” remains ongoing and will not be concluded quickly.
“This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives that (US Central Command) CENTCOM and the joint force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve, and, in some cases, will be difficult and gritty work,” Caine said.
He acknowledged that four US service members have been killed so far and cautioned that further casualties are expected as the campaign continues.
“We expect to take additional losses, and as always, we will work to minimize US losses. But as the Secretary (of Defense Hegseth) said, this is major combat operations,” Caine added.
Caine confirmed that more forces are already heading to the region.
“In fact, Admiral Cooper will receive additional forces even today,” he said, referring to Brad Cooper, US CENTCOM chief.
He described the rapid military buildup as evidence of the US Armed Forces’ ability to adjust quickly and project power “at the time and place of our nation’s choosing.”
Meanwhile on Monday, US President Donald Trump said he would not rule out sending ground troops into Iran.
“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground, like every president says: ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it,” he told the New York Post.
“I say ‘probably don’t need them,' (or) ‘if they were necessary,’” he said.
Trump later said at the White House he had taken the “last, best chance” to stop Iran’s alleged nuclear bomb programme and “eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime.”
