Biden Orders Review of Global Posture Of U.S. Military

Feb. 5 , 2021 (EIRNS)—During his address at the State Department yesterday President Joe Biden announced that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will be leading a Global Posture Review of U.S. forces around the world “so that our military footprint is appropriately aligned with our foreign policy and national security priorities.” This will include the stopping of the drawdown of U.S. troops from Germany that Trump had announced just before the election.

“We’re also stepping up our diplomacy to end the war in Yemen,” Biden said. Biden declared that Blinken had announced earlier that he had appointed career diplomat Tim Lenderking to be the U.S. special envoy for the Yemen war, and that his diplomacy will be bolstered by the State Department’s USAID. “And to underscore our commitment, we are ending all American support for offensive operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales,” he said. “At the same time, Saudi Arabia faces missile attacks, UAV strikes, and other threats from Iranian-supplied forces in multiple countries. We’re going to continue to support and help Saudi Arabia defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity and its people.”

Otherwise, the speech was almost as notable for what Biden didn’t say as much as for what he did say. He did not say anything about reversing Pompeo’s declaration of the Houthis as terrorists, which is threatening even worse hunger and instability. Biden made no mention of Iran. He also didn’t mention Syria, where several hundred U.S. troops are still present in eastern parts of the country; Somalia, where the U.S. troop withdrawal was completed just before Biden took office; or Afghanistan, where 2,500 U.S. troops remain.

Following Biden’s remarks, Austin issued a statement announcing that DOD will conduct a global force posture review of the U.S. military footprint, resources, strategy and missions. “It will inform my advice to the Commander-in-Chief about how we best allocate military forces in pursuit of national interests,” he said. “The review will be led by the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, in close consultation with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.” Austin promised that it will be conducted with full consultation of U.S. allies and partners.