Iran War Drains US Military Assets From Asia
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- The Iran war has pulled US military assets from the Asia-Pacific, including missile defense systems from South Korea and a rapid-response Marine unit from Japan, and delayed Trump's trip to China by several weeks.
- Sen. Jeanne Shaheen led a bipartisan group of senators to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, where allies voiced concerns about rising energy costs and the redeployment of US forces, with Shaheen calling 'failure is not an option' on deterring China.
- Kurt Campbell, Biden's former deputy secretary of state, warned that the military capabilities the US patiently accumulated in the Indo-Pacific might not return in full even after the Iran war ends.
- Trump's 2025 national security strategy had narrowed US Asia policy to deterrence in the Taiwan Strait and First Island Chain — and stated the Middle East 'should be getting less attention' as American energy production ramps up, before the Iran war upended that calculus.
- The US defense industry will struggle to replenish munitions stockpiles, with weapons delivery timelines already slipping, according to Shaheen, while Zack Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute noted that Xi Jinping's wartime economy prep — stockpiling and alternate energy sources — 'has shown itself to be beneficial.'
- Danny Russel of the Asia Society Policy Institute called this 'precisely the wrong time' for another intractable Middle East conflict, while Matt Pottinger defended the administration, saying Beijing is 'the chief sponsor' of the adversaries Trump is dealing with 'sequentially.'
- NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned that a Chinese move on Taiwan would likely be a 'multi-theater issue,' with Beijing calling on 'junior partners' elsewhere to divert US attention.
Why it matters: Trump's own national security strategy stated the Middle East should be getting less attention, yet missile defense systems have left South Korea and a Marine unit has left Japan for the Iran war — raising Campbell's concern that the military overmatch built in the First Island Chain may not fully return. With weapons delivery timelines already slipping and Xi's wartime-economy stockpiling paying off, the resource drain lands precisely as the US heads into a high-stakes summit with Xi Jinping that the strategy says is critical to deterring China over Taiwan.
