The former army General whose last job was sitting on the board of directors of Raytheon, the second largest defense contractor in the United States and now Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin, announced that Washington has no plans to exit the Middle East. 

“We’ve said over and over again, we [have] reassured our allies that we’re going to be here for the long haul. This is an important region, and not only to us but to the world,” he said during his recent visit to Amman, Jordan. Austin plans on visiting Egypt and Israel later this week. 

The Financial Times noted that Austin’s trip comes after other top Biden administration officials visited the region, including National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA head Bill Burns, and Joint Chiefs chair Mark Milley. 

Austin posted on Twitter before his visit that he will meet with key leaders and “reaffirm the US commitment to regional stability and advancing the shared interests of our allies and partners.”

Austin reaffirmed the intent of the Biden Administration to deepen economic and military cooperation between the U.S. and Jordan, “underpinned by the seven-year, $10.15 billion U.S.-Jordan Memorandum of Understanding.”

The discussions are intended to reassure allies while focusing on what Washington sees as the growing threat from Iran in the region. The Defense Department said Austin will focus on multilateral security cooperation with integrated air and missile defenses.

TRENDPOST: The FT noted that there are currently 34,000 U.S. troops stationed across the Middle East. U.S. troops have been in Syria since 2015 with the mandate to assist local forces under the guise they are there to fight against ISIS. There are about 900 troops still in the country.

Gerald Celente has been stating since America’s illegal invasion of Iraq, based on lies that Saddam Hussain had weapons of mass destruction, “Do you think America would invade if Iraq’s major export was broccoli?” The same with Syria and Libya… it’s all about oil and U.S. domination. 

The United States has no right to be in these countries and it is against the principles of America’s Founding Fathers who warned the nation not to become involved in foreign entanglements. 

The central theme for Austin’s trip is the threat from Iran and Beijing’s new ties in the Middle East. 

Austin said Russia and Iran are forming an “unthinkable” alliance, because—as our readers know—only the U.S. is allowed to form military alliances with other countries and have 750 military bases in some 80 countries. Spewing out his bullshit, Austin said Tehran is “getting more experience as they employ drones in Ukraine. And that doesn’t bode well for the region.”