The U.S. military launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Friday, in the opening salvo of retaliation for the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops in Jordan last weekend, according the the U.S. military and officials.
President Joe Biden and other top U.S. leaders had been warning for days that America would strike back at the militias, and they made it clear it wouldn’t be just one hit but a “tiered response” over time.
“This afternoon, at my direction, U.S. military forces struck targets at facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack U.S. forces,” Biden said in a statement. “Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing.”
The massive barrage of strikes by manned and unmanned aircraft hit more than 85 targets at seven locations, including command and control headquarters, intelligence centers, rockets and missiles, drone and ammunition storage sites and other facilities that were connected to the militias or the IRGC’s Quds Force, the Guard’s expeditionary unit that handles Tehran’s relationship and arming of regional militias.
U.S. Central Command said the strikes used more than 125 precision munitions, and they were delivered by numerous aircraft, including long-range bombers flown from the United States. One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation, said B-1 bombers were used.
This isn’t an open war.
It’s a limited amount of retaliatory and proportional strikes, meant to dissuade further attacks on US forces and international shipping. They’ve also chosen not to attack Iran, exactly because they want to avoid escalation. They also warned Iran ahead of time, so they could move out anyone important.
If the US hadn’t responded, it would only have made things worse. You can’t just ignore groups murdering your soldiers. That’ll only invite more of this crap. Terrorists shooting at civilian container ships is also not good for anyone.
The same thing happened with Iran and Pakistan recently. Iran struck Pakistan. Pakistan struck back. They both came to the conclusion they didn’t want a war, and made a statement to that effect.
Except Iran has already pledged a ‘strong response’, should these strikes occur:
https://globalnews.ca/news/10262185/iran-response-jordan-attack-us-soldiers/
They’ll respond, then the US will respond again, and on and on.
When does it end? An eye for an eye for and eye for an eye… Do we just accept going blind?
/edit; somewhere in there I miss read Iraq as Iran… Thought they had struck Iran. Perhaps this won’t be as much of an issue. Time will tell I guess.
This quote always bothered me…There’ll be one guy left with one eye. How’s the last blind guy gonna take out the eye of the last guy left? Gandhi was wrong!
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king!
true. you only have to be the first who pokes an eye.