U.S. weighs return of military families to Bahrain
ABU DHABI — The Defense Department is reviewing the
feasibility of returning about 1,000 dependents of U.S. service members to
Bahrain.
Officials said the Pentagon has been discussing the return of the
dependents of those deployed in Bahrain with both the Gulf Arab kingdom as
well as U.S. Central Command. In 2004, nearly 1,000 dependents of U.S.
sailors and Pentagon employees were ordered home amid threats of an Al Qaida
strike.
"There have been annual reviews and so far we have determined that the
time is not right [for the return of the families]," an official said.
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A U.S. Fifth Fleet spokesman said the military was examining ways to
return some of the military dependents. But she said such a decision must be
made by the Pentagon.
Bahrain hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet and the naval component of Central
Command. About 3,000 U.S. service members and Pentagon staff were said to be
based in Manama.
The absence of the military dependents has harmed the Pentagon-financed
Bahrain School. The school lost 350 students when the dependents were sent
home.
"I know that the U.S. Navy is trying to get dependents to come back to
Bahrain and we continue to have the support of the base," the school's
principal, Alice Berard, said.
