Pentagon rules out deployment of 14,000-strong force to Mideast

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (KUNA) -- US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper refuted as false the recent press reports that his country would be deploying additional troops to Middle East to back up the Central Command (CENTCOM) there.
He said in a press release on Friday, "As the Department (of Defense or DoD) has stated repeatedly, we were never discussing or considering sending 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East." "Reports of this are flat out wrong. DOD will always stand ready to respond to future actions by our adversaries if and when they arise, but the Pentagon is not considering sending 14,000 troops to CENTCOM. This report is false," he affirmed. (end) asj.gb