The United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, has visited Jordan to kick-start a three-country Mideast visit.
The United States has about 30,000 troops in the region and is seen as pivotal in helping counter Iranian influence.
Retired U.S. Marine Corp General Frank McKenzie, who headed American forces in the Middle East until last year, said the region is significant to the United States in part because of China’s growing role.
The United States last week demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repudiate a call by his hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for a flashpoint Palestinian village to be “erased” – a comment that Netanyahu on Sunday called “inappropriate.” The U.S. State Department has called Smotrich’s comment “repugnant.”
Austin is poised to send a clear message on the need for Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to respect human rights, underscoring Washington’s concern on the issue.
Under Sisi, who as army chief led the 2013 ouster of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, there has been a long crackdown on political dissent that has swept up liberal critics as well as Islamists.
The US has withheld small amounts of military aid to Cairo, citing a failure to meet human rights standards. Advocacy groups have pushed for more restrictions.
Mistrust in the Middle East has grown since the 2011 “Arab Spring” uprisings, when Gulf rulers were shocked when President Barack Obama’s administration abandoned late Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after a decades-long alliance.
The United States withdrew its last troops from Afghanistan in a chaotic withdrawal in 2021, raising further doubts in the region about Washington’s commitment.
