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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. has removed its most advanced missile defense system and Patriot batteries from Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, even as the kingdom faced continued air attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show. The redeployment of the defenses from Prince Sultan Air Base outside of Riyadh came as America’s Gulf Arab allies nervously watched the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, including their last-minute evacuations from Kabul’s besieged international airport.... ...Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby acknowledged “the redeployment of certain air defense assets” after receiving questions from the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq, Feb. 11, 2008 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today he’ll probably recommend a pause for evaluation and assessment in Iraq before further troop reductions when the last surge brigade leaves in July. Gates spoke following a two-hour meeting with Multinational Force Iraq commander Army Gen. David H. Petraeus. “I think the notion of a brief period of consolidation and evaluation probably does make sense,” Gates told reporters traveling with him. The secretary did not speculate on how long the pause would be. Last month, Petraeus recommended a pause in redeployment from Iraq after...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2008 – Conditions on the ground will determine troop redeployment out of Iraq, and more troops are needed in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today at a Pentagon news conference. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen said no decision has been made about a pause after the first tranche of surge forces return from Iraq. Staffs at U.S. Central Command, in Washington and in Iraq are working on recommendations about troop levels in Iraq for presentation to President Bush in April. One of the five surge brigades has already redeployed from Iraq...

A panel chartered by Congress to advise on redeployments of U.S. forces abroad is questioning the wisdom of reducing the number of troops on Japan's Okinawa island at a time of strategic uncertainties in the region. In a report released Monday, the Overseas Basing Commission recommended that U.S. Marines at one Okinawan base, the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station, should be moved -- either to another U.S. base on the island, or to one located on Honshu, Japan's main island. Apart from Futenma, however, all other Marine Corps assets on Okinawa should remain there. "Okinawa is the strategic linchpin to...

<p>As the hunt for Saddam Hussein grows more urgent and the guerrilla war in Iraq shows little sign of abating, the Bush administration is continuing to shift highly specialized intelligence officers from the hunt for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to the Iraq crisis, according to intelligence officials who have been involved in the redeployments.</p>

Having achieved a military victory in Iraq and with U.S. ground forces engaged in post war operations in that country, Washington is likely to redeploy a sizable proportion of its air and naval power to East Asia, according to the former Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Command. Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington on Tuesday, Admiral Dennis Blair noted that while the war in Iraq has had very little direct impact on East Asia, the war had "very important indirect effects." U.S. Navy carrier battle groups and Air Force expeditionary units no...