Biden Admin responds to fatal drone strikes
3 American soldiers from soldiers killed, dozens injured at base in Jordan
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - The Biden administration believes proxy fighters backed by Iran launched the drone that carried the weapons which killed three American soldiers and injured dozens more.
Now, President Biden must decide how to respond, mindful that a military strike directly against Iran would certainly widen the conflict in the Middle East.
National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby confirmed the president would respond, “He’s weighing the options before him. As we said yesterday, we will respond, we’ll do that on our schedule, in our time and do it in the manner of the president’s choosing as Commander-in-Chief. And we’ll also do it of the fact that these groups, backed by Tehran, have just taken the lives of American troops.”
Many Republicans in Congress say the administration’s approach to dozens of attacks on American troops by Iran-backed militias has been tepid. Representative Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) serves on key House committees, including Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence. He spoke to CNN.
“I think first, the administration needs to take a step back and appreciate and realize that their Middle East policy is failing and deterrence has failed when it comes to Iran all roads, whether it’s Hezbollah, whether it’s the Houthis, whether it’s Hamas or whether it’s these militias in Iraq, all roads lead back to Tehran. The appeasement strategy has failed. This de-escalation attempt has actually only invited escalation from the Iranian regime.”
But National Security Council spokesman John Kirby insists, even as the administration will respond, escalation is not what the White House desires.
“We are not looking for a war with Iran, we’re not seeking a conflict with the regime and as I said in the opening, we’re not looking to escalate here.”
The soldiers were U.S. Army reservists based at Fort Moore in Georgia, serving at a small outpost in Jordan – a long time American ally – but also a short distance from Iraq.
Since Hamas, the Palestinian group which governs Gaza and also has ties to Iran, attacked Israel on October 7, violence across the region has risen. Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon has been trading fire with Israeli military positions. The Houthis, based in Yemen, have launched multiple attacks against American-flagged cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, threatening shipping. Iran has been trying gain influence over neighboring Iraq for years.
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