United States to Deploybr 3,000 Troops to Middle East .br U.S. defense officials confirmed to NBC Newsbr on Jan. 3 that approximately 3,000 additionalbr soldiers are being sent to the Middle East.br The deployment is reportedlybr not in response to the recentbr American assassination of Qassembr Soleimani, a top Iranian general. .br Instead, the deployment is abr continuation of an earlierbr announcement made by U.S.br Defense Secretary, Mark Esper. .br He called the decision an “appropriate andbr precautionary” response to the Jan. 1 attackbr on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. .br On Dec. 31, Esper said thatbr 750 airborne troops were beingbr deployed immediately to the area,br with additional troops to follow.br This deployment is an appropriate andbr precautionary action taken in responsebr to increased threat levels against U.S.br personnel and facilities, such as we witnessedbr in Baghdad today. The United States will protectbr our people and interests anywhere they arebr found around the world, Mark Esper, via statement .br The newly deployed soldiers will come from anbr infantry battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division,br which is based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. .br They will join the roughlybr 60,000 troops already stationedbr in the Middle East, and willbr stay for "some 60 days.