(CNN) Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke criticized President Donald Trump's approval to send an additional 1,500 US troops to the Middle East this week as a step toward "yet another war." Trump on Friday told reporters at the White House the US would be sending an additional 1,500 troops to the Middle East in a "mostly protective" effort to deter Iranian threats. The President gave his approval to acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan to deploy additional military resources to the Middle East to protect against what the Pentagon believes could be a rising threat from Iran against US troops already deployed to the region. "The Middle East, we're going to be sending a relatively small number of troops -- mostly protective. Some very talented people are going to the Middle East right now and we'll see what happens."

Source: CNN May 25, 2019 22:30 UTC