U.S. Launches Strikes on Suspected Iranian-Supported Bases in Syria
The Wall Street Journal reports U.S. Launches Strikes on Suspected Iranian-Supported Bases in Syria
The strikes against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated groups were authorized by President Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
“These 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 Oct. 17,” Austin said in a statement.
The Pentagon said it struck a weapons and an ammunition storage facility in Abu Kamal, Syria, near the border with Iraq and described the strikes as self-defense measures separate from its military support of Israel. The U.S. said F-16s carried out the strikes, but didn’t say what kind of ordnance it used, how many strikes it conducted or where the American jet fighters originated from.
The U.S. didn’t hit sites where it had determined militia groups launched strikes on American forces, a U.S. defense official said. Rather, the U.S. decision to hit the two Syrian sites was intended to send a message to militia groups in the region that the U.S. would respond to threats to its forces, the official said, while mitigating the risk of escalation.
In the past 10 days, U.S. forces have come under fire at least 19 times in Iraq and Syria, Pentagon officials said Thursday, updating earlier figures. Attacks on Thursday included one an air base in Erbil, Iraq, hosting U.S. troops. In addition, a U.S. warship intercepted missiles in the Red Sea fired from Yemen last week.
Sending a Message
Allegedly, we are only “sending a message”.
But it seems to me that if the US did not have troops in Syria where they don’t belong and were not invited (an act of war by the US), then the troops would not have been attacked, and thus no counterattack message would need to be sent.
I suspect my line of reasoning might be too logical to make any sense, especially when there is plenty of support for starting a war in Iran.
If bombing Iran is the real mission, this is a good start. The Vietnam War started from such lies and pretenses.
Also note the US did not even strike at targets that attacked the US. Apparently there were better targets elsewhere.
Better targets is the rationale Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld used to start the War in Iraq despite the fact that it was Saudi nationals responsible for taking down the twin towers on 9/11 not Iraqis.
What’s the Real Message?
I suggest it’s the US is itching for war despite the official denial: “The United States does not seek conflict and has no intention nor desire to engage in further hostilities, but these Iranian-backed attacks against U.S. forces are unacceptable and must stop,” said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
To stop the attacks on US troops, I have a simple suggestion: Don’t put them where they have no business.
No good as ever came from US meddling in Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, or Afghanistan. Why should this be any different.
Power of the Missile
Israeli Airstrikes Intensify in Gaza
Israel-Hamas War Rages as Gaza Deaths Mount
CNN has Live Updates on the Israel-Hamas War.
The Israel Defense Forces’ troops are “operating forcefully” on all fronts in order to fulfill its goals in the war with Hamas, and will “continue striking Gaza City and keep calling upon civilians to evacuate south,” IDF spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Friday.
UN members are preparing to vote on a resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the war between Israel and Hamas so that humanitarian aid can reach civilians in the battered enclave of Gaza. The vote is expected at 3 p.m. ET.
There is no explicit criticism of Hamas in the General Assembly resolution currently under debate. Hamas, which controls Gaza, sparked the latest outbreak in violence after its October 7 terror attacks in Israel that left more than 1,400 dead.
Jawwal, the Palestinian telecom company that provides mobile service to the Gaza Strip released a statement Friday night, saying “the intense bombardment in the past hour has resulted in the destruction of all remaining international routes connecting Gaza with the outside world” leading to a “complete interruption of telecommunications services.”
Question of the Day
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