Pentagon struggles to find ways to pay for sending troops to the Middle East?

An F/A-18E fighter jet takes off from the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford in the Eastern Mediterranean on October 12.

Along with many other federal agencies, the Pentagon is operating on a short-term budget recently approved by US President Joe Biden to avert a government shutdown.

The interim budget passed without the aid to Israel or Ukraine requested by President Biden. Furthermore, the defense budget is limited to the same level as last year.

Politico on December 28 quoted Pentagon spokesman Chris Sherwood as saying that because no one could foresee the prospect of having to increase military forces in the Middle East following the Hamas-Israel conflict, the US military was forced to compensate by cutting funding for ongoing campaigns and reducing maintenance-related costs.

Two aircraft carrier strike groups, the Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Gerald R. Ford, in the Mediterranean on November 3.

That means budget cuts for exercises and deployments elsewhere.

Since the Middle East crisis began, the US has deployed two aircraft carrier strike groups, the Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Gerald R. Ford, to the Mediterranean, as well as increased missile and air defense systems, more than 1,000 troops, and an Ohio-class nuclear submarine to the region.

The troop build-up comes as the US declares its support for Israel in its conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as to prevent the risk of tensions escalating and spreading.

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