Chapter 3 Military and Security Involvement
3.2.3 Routine Military Presence
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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
3.2.3 Routine Military Presence
The US maintains military forces in the Middle East at all times, not only in times of war. Qatar hosts thousands of American soldiers, about 7,000 at the moment, mostly
89 Mark Mazzetti, Scott Shane and Robert F. Wroth, “Drone Strikes' Risks to Get Rare Moment in the Public Eye”, The New York Times, February 5, 2013, accessed June 22, 2015,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/06/world/middleeast/with-brennan-pick-a-light-on-drone-strikes-hazards.html?hp&_r=1
90 Sam Wilkin, “Factbox: Saudi Arabia's Coalition against Yemen's Houthis”, Reuters, March 26, 2015, accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/26/us-yemen-security-coalition-factbox-idUSKBN0MM1A320150326
91 Abi-Habib and Entous, “U.S. Widens Role in Saudi-led Campaign against Houthi Rebels in Yemen.
92 Ibid.
93 Ibid.
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at the Operations Center at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base – the Central Command’s94 air operations for the entire Middle East. 95
Before 2003, CENTOCM’s air operations center was located in Saudi Arabia, but the Pentagon moved it to Qatar and officially withdrew all American combat forces from the Kingdom.96 Yet, despite the public withdrawal, a small unit of United States Military Training Mission (USMTM) 97 remained to train Saudi military personnel and use the bases as potential backup in case of a renewed conflict in the area. 98 Years later, the US also established a secret CIA drone base in the country, used for American drone attacks in neighboring Yemen.99
Kuwait is currently the largest base for American soldiers in the Middle East – 15,000. It served as the main staging area and logistical center for the US military during the 2003 operation in Iraq. Currently, The US is using Kuwait’s al-Dhafra and Ali al-Salem air bases to launch attacks against ISIL. It is also home to the US navy busiest overseas port that played a crucial role in both Gulf Wars and the war in Afghanistan. 100
Bahrain serves as the headquarters for the American Navy’s entire Middle Eastern operations, including the Fifth Fleet,101 and the US is currently planning to invest 580$
million in expanding it, as the commander of the fifth Fleet, Vice Admiral John Miller, explained that US Navy operations in the Gulf will continue “well into the middle of the century”.102 Miller said the role of the US in the region is growing, and that beyond
94 The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) is a Unified Combatant Command of the U.S.
Department of Defense. CENTCOM is responsible for the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. CENTCOM played the main role in the US’s military operations in the Middle East over the years, including the Gulf War, Afghanistan, and Iraq. As of 2015, CENTCOM forces are deployed primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan in combat roles and have support roles at bases
in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Pakistan, and central Asia.
95 Vine, "The Bases of War in the Middle East.
96 Christopher M. Blanchard, “Qatar: Background and U.S. Relations”, Congressional Research Center (2014): 1. Accessed June 22, 2015, https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL31718.pdf,
97 "About Us", United States Military Training Mission Saudi Arabia , accessed June 22, 2015, http://usmtm.org/about.html
98 Vine, "The Bases of War in the Middle East “.
99 Mazzetti, Shane and Wroth, “Drone Strikes' Risks to Get Rare Moment in the Public Eye”,
100 Vine, "The Bases of War in the Middle East “.
101 The Fifth Fleet of the United States Navy is responsible for naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean.
102 Christof Lehmann, “US Navy Boosts 5th Fleet Presence in Bahrain and Persian Gulf”, NSNBC, April 13, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015, http://nsnbc.me/2014/04/13/us-navy-boosts-5th-fleet-presence-in-bahrain-and-persian-gulf/
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providing assistance, training and expertise, the most important thing the US provides to the area is leadership.103
Other countries host smaller amounts of American soldiers. Oman hosts three Air Force pre-positioning sites that store equipment for 26,000 personnel. 104 In Egypt, U.S.
troops have maintained at least two installations and occupied at least two bases on the Sinai Peninsula since 1982 as part of a Camp David Accords peacekeeping operation.105 In Jordan, there are about 1,000 American soldiers, and American F-16 fighter jets are operating from at least one Jordanian base. 106 In Turkey, there are 17 American military bases, although their current use is not clear due to the tension with the Turkish government.107
One of the main objective of the heavy American military presence aimed safeguarding the SLOCs.108 As a matter of fact, the US is paying a very high price for securing the waters of the Persian Gulf and ensuring the continued flows of oil and natural gas from the Middle East to the rest of the world. In the past three decades, the US has paid more than $225 billion a year in order to do so. The US military expenditure on securing oil is unproportionally high comparing to its actual imports of oil, and about seven times higher than other global major oil importers, such as China, India, Japan, the UK, France, German and South Korea.109
103 Ibid.
104 "Oman Facilities", Global Security, accessed June 22, 2015, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/oman.htm
105 Vine, "The Bases of War in the Middle East”.
106 Ibid.
107 Ibid.
108 Based on the interview I conducted with Liu Kuo-Hsing (劉國興), a former diplomat to Arab countries.
109 Steve A. Yetiv, Myths of the Oil Boom: American National Security in a Global Energy Market (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015), p.p. 126-128.
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Figure 5: Global Military Expenditure versus Oil Dependence.110
Source: Myths of the Oil Boom: American National Security in a Global Energy Market.
In 2014, there were signs that the administration is interested in altering this situation. In August 2014, President Obama referred China’s policy regarding this issue and said that “They are free riders. And they have been free riders for the last 30 years and it’s worked really well for them”.111 Three months prior to that in May 2014, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that the GCC countries are too reliant on the US, and that “America’s engagement with Gulf nations is intended to support and facilitate, not replace, stronger multilateral ties within the GCC.”112
Yet, with several military campaigns in the Middle East, the US is doubtlessly the most non-Middle Eastern country involved in the area, and even if the current American president seems to be willing to change this state of affairs, the US policy in the Middle East is still much dependent on the way the next president will lead. Nevertheless, it seems that now the US military is getting more involved in the area due to ISIL expansion and the instability in Syria and Yemen, and that the American military is preparing to stay and deepen its presence not only in the years to come, but in the decades to come.
110 Ibid, p. 128.
111 Bree Feng, “Obama's 'Free Rider' Comment Draws Chinese Criticism, The New York Times, August 13, 2014, accessed June 22, 2015, http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/13/obamas-free-rider-comment-draws-chinese-criticism/?_r=0
112 Andrew Critchlow, “US Says Can't 'Guarantee' Security in Oil-Rich Gulf States as Focus Turns to China “, The Telegraph, May 15, 2015, accessed June 22, 2015,,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/defence/10831872/US-says-cant-guarantee-security-in-oil-rich-Gulf-states-as-focus-turns-to-China.html
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
US China Japan UK France Germany South
Korea
India
Military Expenditure (Billion USD) Oil Dependence (Imports/Consumption)
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