How Iran attacks are forcing the Pentagon to rethink its decades-old Middle East base strategy
Retired admirals say US military is already shifting to alternate command sites and rotating forces away from fixed installations After weeks of Iranian missile and drone attacks exposed the vulnerability of major U.S. military bases across the Gulf, the Pentagon is weighing whether decades of relying on large, permanent installations within range of Iranian weapons still makes strategic sense. Defense officials are considering dispersing some capabilities and reassessing parts of the U.S. regional base posture, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The Gulf base network is how the U.S. responds quickly to Iran, protects shipping lanes, reassures Arab partners and keeps pressure on ISIS and al Qaeda. If the Pentagon reduces or disperses that footprint, it could make U.S. forces harder to hit — but also slower to surge in a crisis. For decades, the tradeoff was straightforward: the closer U.S. forces were to the fight, the faster they could respond. But Operation ...