U.S. in Middle East: 186 Casualties in Past Four Months
American forces in the Middle East have suffered about 186 casualties (deaths and injuries) in attacks from Iran-backed groups since mid-October, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.
Casualties: Of the 186 reported casualties, three were deaths resulting from the January 28 attack in Jordan, and 130 were traumatic brain injuries (tbis), which usually result from blast impacts of mortars, drones and missiles. Because tbis make up 70 percent of the total number of casualties, that number is expected to rise as more troops report injury from previous attacks.
Bring the troops home? Many Americans believe the United States should close its hundreds of overseas military bases. These numbers from the Middle East—just one example of the costs of America’s overseas presence—could be used to justify that argument.
The cry to “bring the troops home” may be at its height regarding the Middle East, where:
- Around 46,000 U.S. troops are deployed
- The U.S. spent $6.4 trillion from October 2001 to September 2020 in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Pakistan
- Over 7,000 U.S. troops died in Afghanistan and Iraq
Overall, the U.S. spends $2,169 per American on its military. Hundreds of billions in tax dollars go to Middle Eastern deployments, even when many Americans support Palestine and see Russia and China as greater threats than Iran.
Failures: The results of such expenses have been deeply disappointing. Not only has the U.S. failed to achieve its goals in the Middle East, but circumstances have seemingly gotten worse. In recent years, America has:
- Abandoned Afghanistan to the Taliban
- Hastened the development of Iran’s nuclear program
- Made plans to withdraw from Iraq
- Been unable to bring peace or even slow tensions
- Been unable to stop terrorist attacks on Israel and Red Sea vessels
- Faced 170 attacks since mid-October—and responded weakly
American opinion: Considering these failures, as well as growing turmoil around the globe (e.g. the war in Ukraine and China’s heightened aggression in the South China Sea) and the fact that more countries are opting to strengthen their own militaries instead of depending on the U.S., many Americans are wondering why their tax dollars are going to these overseas bases that don’t seem to accomplish much.
What many don’t know is that these failures were prophesied in the Bible.
The future: Bible prophecy foretold the modern state of America, and it warns the U.S. will continue to lose its global military influence as its strength is “spent in vain.”
Though the lack of U.S. effectiveness and rising casualties are tragic, the picture prophecy paints of a world without U.S. leadership is worse. It shows how America’s retreat from global leadership will lead to far greater problems down the road.
To learn more, read our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy.
