The U.S. military launched airstrikes early Friday on two locations in eastern Syria linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Pentagon said, in retaliation for a slew of drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and personnel in the region that began early last week.
The U.S. strikes reflect the Biden administration’s determination to maintain a delicate balance. The U.S. wants to hit Iranian-backed groups suspected of targeting the U.S. as strongly as possible to deter future aggression, possibly fueled by Israel’s war against Hamas, while also working to avoid inflaming the region and provoking a wider conflict.
According to the Pentagon, there have been at least 12 attacks on U.S. bases and personnel in Iraq and four in Syria since Oct. 17. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said 21 U.S. personnel were injured in two of those assaults that used drones to target al-Asad Airbase in Iraq and al-Tanf Garrison in Syria.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the “precision self-defense strikes are a response to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militia groups that began on October 17.”
He said President Joe Biden directed the narrowly tailored strikes “to make clear that the United States will not tolerate such attacks and will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests.” And he added that the operation was separate and distinct from Israel’s war against Hamasa.
Austin said the U.S. does not seek a broader conflict, but if Iranian proxy groups continue, the U.S. won’t hesitate to take additional action to protect its forces.
(AP)
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5 Responses
It’s about time.
This is Pearl Harbor day all over again:- America has entered this war, dare I say WWIII?
Biden’s pathetic weakness is causing more and more violence on top of what it already has
The headline is very misleading unfortunately – rather than the US joining Israel’s fight against Iran as the headline sounds, the US is bending over backgrounds to stress in every possible way that that is exactly what it is NOT doing
The U.S. once again has a president who actually strikes at the the enemy instead of a demented coward blowing up empty airplane hangers.
Why should the Israelis and Palestinians have all the fun?
One should remember that in 1914, even though the Serbians and Austrians started the kerfuffle, from August onwards they were a “minor front” largely ignored by everyone else. You should also pay attention to the China-Philippine conflict in the South China Sea, and the Russians waiving nukes in Europe. And unlike 1914, one suspects that most of the world leaders are total fools, and two of them (Xi and Putin) apparently are de facto one man dictators who have no “board” they have to consult with.