Article snippet: Heightened anxiety in the Middle East is coinciding with the one-year mark since the Pentagon last held an on-camera briefing from its chief spokesperson, adding new criticisms that defense officials are not being transparent amid a military build-up. A Defense Department press secretary has not held a previously-routine on-camera briefing since May 31, 2018. And once-regular off-camera gaggles, usually held for Pentagon reporters on a weekly basis, have ceased to exist since late last year. Reporters for months have called for the press briefings to resume, a request that has grown more urgent as the Trump administration refuses to explain the reasoning and intelligence behind quickly escalating tensions with Iran. Journalists, as well as many lawmakers, are seeking answers as to what information the administration received that prompted the hasty deployment of a bomber task force and carrier strike group to the region earlier this month. They also want to know whether the U.S. is preparing to take military action against Iran. The administration on Wednesday also moved to pull non-emergency U.S. personnel from Iraq as part of the unease with neighboring Iran, saying only that “anti-U.S. sectarian militias” may threaten U.S. citizens and companies throughout the country. Over the past year, instead of media availability with defense officials, reporters have been invited to attend unorthodox press events, including one in mid-October when actor Gerard Butler par... Link to the full article to read more