Peter Baker: The Nervousness Is Every Time You Send Troops to the Middle East, ‘It Makes You Vulnerable’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
RUFFINI: “It’s also another development. NBC News is reporting the U.S. plans to deploy up to 200 troops to Israel as part of this long-term international security solution for Gaza, centcom commander admiral Brad cooper said today on ABC’s that there will be no U.S. boots on the ground in Gaza. So what exactly is your sense of how they will be used? Do you think they’re going to be able to hold to that pledge? What are they going to be doing?”

BAKER: “Yeah, it’s a real that’s a real change. Right. Because traditionally we have not sent U.S. troops to Israel in any large numbers anyway, because we didn’t want to be involved directly, and the Israelis didn’t want to have American troops there as well. But this is a relatively small number. We’ll see whether they’re able to to help with the logistics and the intelligence and the other support issues that apparently they’re going to be helping with. The nervousness, of course, is every time you send troops, even small numbers, to the Middle East, it makes you vulnerable. And the potential for a slippery slope is always there. That’s something that you would have thought President Trump in particular would be nervous about, given that his, you know, his 10 years on the public stage have been about ending American involvement in the Middle East wars of our generation rather than getting involved with them. It’s a small number. We’ll see. It may not be all that meaningful. It may not be that big of a risk, but it is. It is a difference and it is an important one.”