and what general dunford said, he will be back here next week to brief reporters on some of the details. he is calling ate moderate deployment of u.s. troops and weapons, saying that u.s. forces and air and missile defenses will be sent to protect saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. we should expect, i think it s fair to say, that this will involve patriot missiles, which we have seen repeatedly deployed to the middle east for so many years to defend against ballistic missiles. but this deployment is different. this, the secretary of defense, mark esper said, is helping saudi arabia improve their defenses. remember, the u.s. has sold them billions of dollars in weapons over the years. and after this attack, it showed the vulnerability. they need additional help now. they are asking for that help. this attack came against oil facility in northern saudi arabia. that they did not expect to be attacked by these iranian
drones or other attacks that may come from iran. i want to double down on the chairman s comments two ways. first of all, i agree, what we would be deploying to the theater would be what would be a necessary to help support and contribute to the kingdom s defenses. and at the same time, we are calling on many other countries who would also have these capabilities to do two things. first of all, stand up and condemn these attacks. and secondly, look to also contribute defensive capabilities so we could defend those things that i outlined in my remarks, whether it s the infrastructure in saudi arabia and then the broader issues with regard to freedom of the seas, navigation in the strait, and the international rules and norms that iran is clearly violating. so should we take this as, this is the president s decision about the response to the attack in saudi arabia and there s not a kinetic response that we should expect from the united states? this is first step we re taking with r
sustainable. just a follow up. we re not talking about thousands of troops, we re talking about hundreds of troops? and also just to the secretary, do you think this is going to be enough or why do you think this would be enough to deter iran from further attacks? we think given the state of play now and based on whatever assessments we get from central command, what the joint staff and the chairman do and other discussions we re having with partners, we have to continually assess that. we think for now, that would be sufficient, but that doesn t mean there could be additional deployments as needed, based on the changing situation. and on troop numbers? i would say at this point, a moderate deployment, phil. we ll have more details for you next week, but not ready to share the details. but not thousands? thousands would be not moderate? that s fair to say, not thousands. lucas? are there any plans to hold the lincoln strike group any longer than currently planned?
weapons. it is requiring a very different look at saudi arabia s air defenses to protect its oil infrastructure and to protect the country. this attack is being viewed here at the pentagon very differently. swarms of cruise missiles, swarms of drones were able to get to these critical saudi oil facilities without any detection. and just yesterday, a senior official said to me, that is something that is very worrisome. that the iranians were able to pull this off without any detection that these missiles and drones were aiming at this critical oil facility. it disrupted oil markets, it was a very strategic attack. and it now basically internationalizes the iranian threat, because it impacts oil supplies to so many countries that are dependent on middle eastern-owned saudi oil. that is why you heard both secretary esper and general dunford just moments ago talk
should they be necessary. we urge the iranian leadership to cease their destructive and destabilizing activities and to move forward on a peaceful diplomatic path. general dunford and i will now take your questions. thank you. mr. secretary, thank you. you said air and missile defenses primarily. could you be a little more specific about, are you talking about patriot missiles and what number of troops are you talking about sending? yeah, so, bob, secretary pompeo just came back this morning and the saudis asked for enhanced defensive capabilities, so what we will do now is take the president s decision, i ll talk to centcom over the week, talk with our saudi partners and work the details of deployment and be able to share that you next week. so there have been no decision on specific numbers? we haven t decided on specific units. as the secretary said, capabilities to enhance their air, military, defense. it s now my job to come back to the secretary with details on what we be