Sen. Tommy Tuberville had blocked Lt. Gen. Ronald P. Clark’s promotion amid scrutiny of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s secretive hospitalization last winter.
With Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, the Pentagon is bracing for retaliatory action from Tehran’s network of militias and militant groups.
The mission marks the first significant deployment of U.S. troops to Israel since the war in Gaza began and comes just weeks before the U.S. presidential election.
Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla has been one of the Biden administration’s key emissaries to Israel and other Middle Eastern partners since the Gaza war began.
For the first time since the Gaza war began, the U.S. will have no aircraft carrier nearby. Meanwhile, a weapons shortage has left the Pentagon spread thin.
Donald Trump’s defense secretary pick was not involved in the murder of detainees, but the formative experience influenced his advocacy for troops accused of war crimes.