Outgoing US President Donald Trump has ordered the country’s CentralCommand (CENTCOM) to coordinate military activities with the Israeliregime, while also designating Persian Gulf Arab kingdoms of Bahrain andthe UAE as “major security partners” in his final days in office.
The move, first reported by the * Wall Street Journal *, follows alast-minute push by Trump to shore up a regional anti-Iran alliance andconvince Arab dictators in West Asia to normalize ties with the hawkishIsraeli regime as Washington intends to focus more on countering majormilitary and economic rival China in the coming years.
The occupied Palestine had previously fallen under the area ofresponsibility of the US European Command (EUCOM) out of diplomaticdeference to the political sensitivities of US-sponsored Arab regimes, manyof which have long refused to publicly recognize the Tel Aviv regime untila “political solution” is reached for the status of Palestine.
“The easing of tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors subsequent tothe Abraham Accords has provided a strategic opportunity for the UnitedStates to align key partners against shared threats in the Middle East,”the Pentagon claimed in a Friday statement.
“Israel is a leading strategic partner for the United States, and this willopen up additional opportunities for cooperation with our US CentralCommand partners while maintaining strong cooperation between Israel andour European allies,” it further read.
The oil-rich Persian Gulf kingdoms of UAE (United Arab Emirates) andBahrain have signed formal agreements recognizing the anti-PalestinianIsraeli regime – under the so-called Abraham Accords — while the restiveNorth African states of Sudan and Morocco have so far signaled openness todoing so under intense US pressure.link.link
The Trump administration has offered significant incentives for theagreements, including debt relief for Sudan and advanced weapons sales tothe despotic rulers of the UAE and Morocco.
The bid to include the Israeli-occupied Palestine in CENTCOM’s region wasnot a last-minute decision and has been frequently discussed by senior USmilitary officials in recent years, according to a former senior officialcited by Al-Monitor in a Friday report.
“There have been discussions on this for some time,” said Mick Mulroy,former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East as quotedin the report, adding: “Israel’s biggest threat comes from within theMiddle East: Iran. CENTCOM has a better understanding of what that threatentails.”
A key objective of the so-called Abraham Accords is to enable MiddleEastern militaries to become “interoperable with the United States as wellas with each other,” said the US State Department’s top official forforeign military transfers, Clarke Cooper, during a press briefing lastmonth.
As part of CENTCOM’s bid to put that vision to the test, the Pentagonorchestrated a military show of force in the region over the past severalweeks in efforts to deter Iran from carrying out its vow of takingretaliatory action to avenge US terrorist assassination of Iranian Lt. Gen.Qassem Soleimani and several other senior Iraqi and Iranian officersin January 2020.link-.link-
The development came as some US security analysts cited in local militarynews outlets have described the inclusion of the Israeli regime underCENTCOM’s responsibility as “a natural fit,” insisting that Iran remainsthe main security threat against the occupying entity.
There have also been indications in recent years that the US military wasmoving toward having CENTCOM play a larger role in the Israeli occupiedterritories, according to a report by the Washington-based *Stars &Stripes* militarynewspaper, which noted that in 2018, then-CENTCOM chief Gen. Joseph Votelwas the first to make an official visit to Israel. Current CENTCOMcommander Gen. Kenneth McKenzie also paid a visit to occupied Palestine in2019.
According to the report, the Israeli security has been the key focus of theEUCOM over the years, with the Germany-based command coordinating complextraining missions with the regime’s military forces, including the biannualJuniper Cobra missile defense drills.
As EUCOM focuses more on its traditional role of countering Russia,shifting Israel to CENTCOM enables the US military to incorporate it moreinto its Middle East strategy, the report added, citing unnamed analysts.
“Putting Israel in CENTCOM’s (area) would smooth the way for the Pentagonto utilize Israel more for regional operations, including bypre-positioning precision-guided munitions and other much-needed weaponryfor the US, Israeli and possibly partner Arab forces,” wrote former EUCOMdeputy commander, retired Gen. Charles Wald, in a November analysispublished by right-wing, pro-Israel military news outlet *Real ClearDefense*.
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This is while US President-elect Joe Biden, who will sworn into office nextweek, has also pledged to stick to the pro-Israeli Abraham Accords as hisadministration has further announced plans to return to nuclear talks withthe Islamic Republic of Iran while vowing to include Iranian missile mightin the negotiations – a vision sternly rejected by Tehran.
Iran, meanwhile, has also conditioned Washington’s return to the nucleartalks on first delivering on its initial commitments according to the 2015JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) agreement.
CENTCOM was founded under the Carter administration in 1983 out of theexpeditionary Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force, which was establishedfollowing the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 by students whoreferred to the compound as “den of spies,” referring to the embassy’sespionage operations aimed at toppling the nascent Islamic Republic at thetime.
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CENTCOM’s original focus was to safeguard and expand American influenceover global oil supplies, a priority that has waned significantly in recentdecades amid growing anti-US sentiments across the region.
CENTCOM’s founding, however, was welcomed by the despotic Saudi regime,with the Israeli regime initially expressing concerns over the prospect ofWashington expanding military ties with its Arab neighbors.
White House Calls Bahrain, UAE ‘Major Security Partners’
The addition of the Israeli regime to CENTCOM’s operational spherecoincided with Saturday’s announcement by the White House referring toBahrain and the UAE as “major security partners,” a previously unheard ofdesignation for the two tiny Persian Gulf kingdoms that play host to majorAmerican military operations.
The White House statement tied the designation to the move by the two Arabstates to forge ties with the Israeli regime, saying it “reflects theirextraordinary courage, determination and leadership.”
It further noted that the two despotic regimes have long taken part inUS-led military maneuvers. It remains unclear, however, what thedesignation means for the two Arab states.
Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, while the UAE’s Jebel Ali portis the busiest port of call for American warships outside of the US.Bahrain hosts nearly 5,000 American military officers, while the UAE hosts3,500 of them, many stationed at Al-Dhafra Air Base.
This is while the US already uses the designation of “major non-NATO ally”to describe its relationship with yet another small Persian Gulf kingdom ofKuwait, which hosts the forward command of US Army Central. Thatdesignation grants a country special financial and military considerationsfor nations not part of the NATO military alliance. Bahrain also is anon-NATO ally.
The White House designation comes in the final days of Trump’sadministration. It also comes after Bahrain and the UAE joined Egypt andSaudi Arabia in beginning to resolve a years-long boycott of neighboringQatar, another Persian Gulf Arab nation home to Al-Udeid Air Base thathosts Central Command’s forward operating base.
