The U.S. military is building a base "within shouting distance" of Iran in the border areas of Iraq, ABC News reported Wednesday.
U.S. officials described the move as "an extraordinary step" to curb the smuggling of Iranian weapons into Iraq, but the media sphere already smelled the "odor of war."
Namely Combat Outpost Shocker, the base hardly comes as a pleasant surprise to Iran that the United States will have a new base just 8 km from their border.
Col. Mark Mueller, of the 3rd U.S. Army Infantry Division, said it is the first time the U.S. military will be that close to Iran.
"Obviously, they probably won't be very happy about it," Mueller told ABC News.
The Shocker base will be home to about 200 soldiers, as well as to agents from the U.S. Border Patrol, at a location where about 300 trucks now cross the border each day.
At the moment, the United States can only fully search three or four of them each day, but with more manpower and technology, they will know better where to look for weapons transactions.
The new base is part of a bigger struggle for influence between the United States and Iran in Iraq.
While the United States and Iran are not engaged in a shooting war for now, a "war of wills" has already begun, and Combat Outpost Shocker will be right on the frontline, analysts said. |
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