U.S. Engaged in Combat 226 Days Last Year
The wars Washington doesn't like to talk about
Ken Klippenstein
Jan 10, 2025
A year ago this week, Reuters reported a single sentence dispatch from Iraq that a U.S. airstrike “foiled” an attack on Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq, where U.S. and other international forces were stationed.
It wasn’t the first instance of combat in 2024, and amidst the confusion of Secretary of Defense Austin’s secret hospitalization last January, all Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said when asked was that Austin along with President Biden had “pre-approved” an airstrike near Baghdad. He was referring to two separate incidents, but as Ryder himself said, he wasn’t quite sure, because what the United States military did out there in the Middle East was both automatic and unremarkable.
January 8 is a random day, but on 226 days like it last year, the U.S. military “foiled” another attack. In Syria, Jordan, Israel, Iraq and Yemen, as well as in Somalia, at sea and from remote bases, American forces attacked or were attacked by drones and rockets and missiles and ground fighters. This remarkable record, which we pieced together from press releases, social media postings, and unit records, shows not just the constant dangers that exist for our troops but also how invisible the reality of war is these days.
https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/us-engaged-in-combat-226-days-last
