WSJ: Iran Not Impressed with Biden's Airstrikes
Ed Morrissey
Is anyone impressed with Joe Biden's attempts to set a deterrent against attacks on American positions in the Middle East? Despite a string of attacks on military installations and Western shipping, the Biden administration acted as though the attack on our base in Jordan that killed three soldiers came as a surprise. It then took several days for Biden to select and order a response, by which time he'd signaled it so clearly that Iran and its proxies had plenty of time to clear out.
But at least it sent a message, right? According to the Wall Street Journal, the answer is maybe ... but it's not the message intended:
A strike near a U.S. base in Syria killed six members of a U.S.-allied militia Monday, the group said, despite the U.S. pounding Iran-allied militia sites with airstrikes over the weekend, underscoring the challenge Washington faces in its goal of keeping the conflict in the Middle East contained.
A U.S. military official confirmed that there were fatalities from an attack on the al-Omar oil field, part of a complex that includes a U.S. base and is jointly controlled with the American military. The official declined to comment further.
The Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia, said six of its fighters had died in a drone strike on al-Omar. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella of Iran-backed armed groups, claimed responsibility for the attack, and the SDF threatened to retaliate.
Iran-aligned militias in Iraq and Syria have carried out more than 165 attacks on American bases with rockets, missiles, drones or mortars in recent months, according to the U.S., seeking to put pressure on Washington over its support for Israel and trying to force the American military to leave.
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https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2024/02/05/wsj-iran-not-impressed-with-bidens-airstrikes-n3782363
