Iran’s Nuclear Tipping Point
Foreign AffairsOct 24
US to Send Missile Defense System, Troops to Israel
Above: Palestinians at the site of an Israeli strike in the courtyard of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Monday, Oct. 14, 2024. Image copyright: Ahmad Salem/Contributor/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Facts
The US said on Sunday that it would deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system alongside US troops to Israel to help bolster the country's defenses in the case of an Iranian reprisal attack on Israel. The US has helped defend Israel from Iranian attacks twice this year.
It has been widely reported that Israel intends to militarily respond to Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel earlier this month. It is not unusual for the US to have a select number of troops in Israel, as the two countries are close allies.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Though the situation in the region continues to escalate, the US has stood firm in its role as a mediator. Israel has every right to respond to the daily terror attacks it has seen since Oct. 7. However, it's in no one's interest for tensions to explode into a wider regional war. The US will continue to work toward regional stability.
Pro-Israel narrative
Hamas and Hezbollah continue to use the civilian population as human shields as they convert schools and hospitals into command and control centers. Indeed, Hamas is solely to blame for the destruction of Gaza and its impact on the civilian population, as it started this terrible war with the massacres of Oct. 7. Israel will continue to pacify the group and confront its regional enemies.
Pro-Palestine narrative
Israel's true goal in Gaza is to starve and exterminate the civilian population so that the region is never inhabited by Palestinians again. Israeli politicians and military officials have been quite clear about the country's genocidal goals, yet the media continues to ignore their horrifying ambitions. This is a campaign of mass extermination that has received the full backing of the US.
Narrative D
Israel has chosen to launch a civilizational war against the entire region, specifically Palestinians and the Shiites of the Middle East. Targeting lists leaked by Israeli media showed that Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's highest religious authority and a well-known moderate, was included as a possible target, proving that Israel's goal is to spark a religious war. Religious leaders like Sistani have consistently called for co-existence, which is exactly why Israel seeks to assassinate him.