Chapter 3 Military and Security Involvement
3.2.2 Military Campaigns
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The weapons US is supplying to its allies in the area are top notch, usually systems they cannot purchase from other countries. For instance, the US sold Saudi Arabia M-1A2 Abrams main battle tanks, M-2A2 Bradley armored vehicles, F-15E Strike Eagle attack aircrafts and Patriot surface-to-air missiles, which are the most systems the US forces are using as well.65 The UAE is also interested in purchasing high-end weapons systems, and it was able to receive the most sophisticated version of F-16 jet fighter aircrafts, even more sophisticated than the US Air Force’s fleet.66
In other words, not only that China is not nearing the US as an arms sales supplier to the Middle East, it cannot even be considered to be a player. The US is by far the most important arms supplier to the region, way ahead of Russia and the UK that together account for less than half the exports of the US to the region. The arms supplies card, on which the Arab countries of the Gulf reliance is increasing, definitely gives the US an important leverage in the area.
3.2.2 Military Campaigns
Besides Afghanistan which is not included in the scope of my research, the American largest presence in the Middle East emanated from its invasion to Iraq in 2003. The American military mission in Iraq ended after more than eight years in December 2011. During that period of time, more than 1.5 million American soldiers served in Iraq, its cost estimated at $820 billion.67
As of 2014, there were approximately 35,000 American troops deployed in the Middle East: 15,000 in Kuwait, 7,500 in Qatar, 6,000 in Bahrain, 5,000 in the UAE, and 1,000 in Jordan. 68 Updated to June 2015, there were 3,550 American soldiers in Iraq, and more might be sent in the upcoming months, due to the war on ISIL.69
65 “Saudi Arabia”, Federation of American Scientists, Marc, 2002, accessed June 22, 2015, http://fas.org/asmp/profiles/saudi_arabia.htm
66 Rajiv Chandrasekaran, "In the UAE, the United States has a quiet, potent ally nicknamed ‘Little Sparta’ “, The Washington Post, November 9, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/in-the-uae-the-united-states-has-a-quiet-potent-ally-nicknamed-little-sparta/2014/11/08/3fc6a50c-643a-11e4-836c-83bc4f26eb67_story.html
67 “Iraq by the Numbers”, Democratic Policy and Communications Center, (2011). Accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.dpc.senate.gov/docs/fs-112-1-36.pdf
68 “ In detail: the US military strength in the Middle East”, The Australian, September 23, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/in-detail-the-us-military-strength-in-the-middle-east/story-e6frg6so-1227068027888
69 Peter Baker, Helen Cooper and Michael R. Gordon, “Obama Looks at Adding Bases and Troops in Iraq, to Fight ISIS”, The New York Times, June 11, 2015, accessed June 22, 2015,
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Currently, the US is engaged in several armed conflicts in the Middle East: against ISIL in Iraq70, against ISIL and other militants in Syria71 and against the Houthis and Al Qaeda in Yemen.72 As opposed to the Saudi-led coalition against the Houthi in Yemen, in which the US is playing only a secondary role,73 in fighting ISIL, it is not the case. The Arab states were united in their hatred for ISIL, but divided in their approaches to solutions for the crisis. It was the US that united ten Arab countries - Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar and the UAE - under on coalition in November 2014.74 Hence, the US is responsible for the majority of the attacks and weapons supplies, while most of the Arab countries are only playing a secondary role.75
Since June 2014 the US is gradually increasing its military presence in Iraq,76 and in July 2014 it also began aerial attacks77 in a campaign that is now known as “Inherent Resolve”. 78 The US currently has more than ten military bases in Iraq79, including a Joint Operations Center in Baghdad, air bases near Baghdad,80 and in Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital, Erbil, 81 and recently started operating in an Iraqi post in Al Taqqadum in
71 Craig Whitlock, ”U.S. Military Leaders: Strikes in Syria are Just the Start of a Prolonged
Campaign”, June 23, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/us-attacks-
islamic-state-in-syria-with-five-middle-east-partners/2014/09/23/b78ad7e8-c8f2-4aa8-aaa7-ec92572f6716_story.html
72 “World Report 2014/Yemen”, Human Rights Watch, January 21, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/yemen
73 Angus McDowall, “Saudi-Led Coalition Launches Wave of Air Strikes on Yemen”, Reuters, May 10, 2015, accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/10/us-yemen-security-saudi-strikes-idUSKBN0NU0BF20150510
74 Umberto Bacchi, “Isis: Ten Arab Nations Join US-Led Coalition against Islamic State”, International Business Times, September 11, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015,
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-ten-arab-nations-join-us-led-coalition-against-isis-1465106
75 Whitlock, ”U.S. Military Leaders: Strikes in Syria are Just the Start of a Prolonged Campaign”.
76 Baker, Cooper and Gordon, “Obama Looks at Adding Bases and Troops in Iraq, to Fight ISIS.
77 Whitlock, ”U.S. Military Leaders: Strikes in Syria are Just the Start of a Prolonged Campaign”.
78“ Operation Inherent Resolve: Targeted Operations against ISIL Terrorists”, U.S. Department of Defense, May 8, 2015, accessed June 22, 2015,
http://www.defense.gov/home/features/2014/0814_iraq/
79 "US Military Bases in Iraq”, Military Bases.com, accessed June 22, 2015, http://militarybases.com/iraq/
80 Maria Abi-Habib and Adam Entous, “U.S. Widens Role in Saudi-led Campaign Against Houthi Rebels in Yemen”, The Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2015, accessed June 22, 2015,
http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-widens-role-in-saudi-led-campaign-against-yemen-rebels-1428882967
81 David Vine, "The Bases of War in the Middle East “, Huffington Post, November 13, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-vine/the-bases-of-war-in-the-middle-east_b_6151682.html
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engaging Sunni tribes in the fighting. Other American forces in Taqqadum are assisting with logistics and force protection. According to the American leadership, more bases are likely to follow. 82
After years of hesitations whether to get involved in a military action against the Assad regime,83 in September 2014 the US launched aerial attacks in Syria, officially in the objective of fighting ISIL. The US is using its wide presence in the Middle East to conduct the attacks in Syria, inter alia, by using a guided-missile destroyer located in the Red Sea, and a guided-missile cruiser, located in the northern Persian Gulf.84 Even though officially the US is only fighting ISIL, it also uses the opportunity to attack the Khorasan Group, a smaller group affiliated with al-Qaeda that the US claims is planning attacks against the West. The Arab countries on the coalition do not participate in the attacks on the Khorasan Group, and it seems to be an American interest alone.85
As the American leadership made clear, this attacks are not sporadic, as the US is preparing for a prolonged campaign. According to the director of operations for the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, the US campaigns in Syria and Iraq might even take years to complete, as the ultimate goal of Operation Inherent Resolve is to completely destroy ISIL.86
The US is planning to do so by attacking the group in both Syria and Iraq, severing its supply lines and disrupting its sources of arms and money, and as it did in past wars, to collaborate with local forces by training them, advising them and equipping them.
Such forces include the Iraqi military, the Kurdish Peshmerga87 and certain groups of Syrian rebels.88
In Yemen, the US has begun conducting drone attacks already in 2009, long before the current campaign against the Houthis. The US widely used the tool of drone attacks,
82 Baker, Cooper and Gordon, “Obama Looks at Adding Bases and Troops in Iraq, to Fight ISIS”.
83 Christopher M, Blanchard, Carla E. Humud and Mary Beth D. Nikitin, “Armed Conflict in Syria:
Overview and U.S. Response”, Congressional Research Center (2014): 4. Accessed June 22, 2015, https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33487.pdf
84 Mark Thompson, “These Are the Weapons the U.S. Is Using to Attack ISIS”, Time, September 23, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015, http://time.com/3422702/isil-isis-syria-obama/
85 Whitlock, ”U.S. Military Leaders: Strikes in Syria are Just the Start of a Prolonged Campaign”.
86 Ibid.
87 Peshmerga (ەگرەمشێپ) is the military forces of Iraqi Kurdistan. The head of Peshmerga is the President of Iraqi Kurdistan.
88 Whitlock, ”U.S. Military Leaders: Strikes in Syria are Just the Start of a Prolonged Campaign”.
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sometimes even without getting the approval of the Yemeni government. By the end of 2013, More than 400 Yemeni were killed by American drone attacks, about 80 of them civilians.89
The current campaign is led by Saudi Arabia with the participation of UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Sudan,90 but the US is supporting it closely. Besides supplies of sophisticated weapons to the coalition countries, the US is advising Saudi Arabia and providing it with quality intelligence. 91
In the beginning of the campaign, the Saudis ran their high-value Yemeni targets by the US, before approval of attacks. It was only after the Pentagon’s approval and amendments that the Saudi Army conducts the attacks.In a later phase of the fighting, the U.S. has increased intelligence-sharing with Saudi Arabia, providing its military with direct targeting support for sites it wants to attack in a joint American – Saudi operations center.92
Another example for the American assistance and its naval capabilities in the Persian Gulf, is its assistance to Saudi Arabia to enforce the Saudi naval blockade on Yemen’s sea ports. In April 2015, American forces searched a vessel suspected of delivering Iranian weapons to the Houthis. It was the first time during this campaign that the US boarded a ship in the waters of the Persian Gulf.93