More Troops Are Assigned To Protect Inauguration Than Currently Serving In Iraq And Afghanistan Combined

The Insider reports:

The US military will have a larger footprint in the nation’s capital by this weekend than the total number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

There will be at least 10,000 National Guard troops in Washington, DC, by Saturday to bump up security ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s January 20 inauguration. Comparatively, as of January 15 there will be roughly 2,500 US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq respectively (about 5,000 total).

There are currently 6,200 National Guard troops in Washington, and National Guard Bureau chief Gen. Daniel Hokanson said he has authorization to deploy as many as 15,000 troops to DC for inauguration.

There will be more US troops in DC for Biden’s inauguration than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, a stark reminder of the danger of homegrown extremism https://t.co/5A89jPf4rW

— Business Insider (@businessinsider) January 12, 2021