With its first known military attack, President Biden
Joe BidenHouse Democrats Pass Major .9T COVID-19 Relief Act With Minimum Wage Increase Biden Holds Virtual Bilateral Meeting With Mexican President Over 300 Indicted In Connection With Capitol Riot MORE tried to send Iran a strong message while avoiding further escalation.
Biden ordered Thursday’s attack on facilities used by Iranian-backed militants in Syria in response to several recent missile attacks on US interests in Iraq suspected of being carried out by the militias.
The target seemed calibrated to tell Iran to shut it down without the situation getting out of hand as the government tries to save room for diplomacy with Tehran to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
‘Somehow there’s a nice, happy middle ground between taking out someone like [Qassem] Soleimani and show that you mean it, ” said Barry Pavel, director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, referring to the Iranian general who was killed in a drone strike ordered by former President Trump
Donald Trump Biden Holds Virtual Bilateral Meeting With Mexican President Over 300 Indicted In Connection With Capitol Riot Trump Jr .: There Are ‘Plenty’ Of Established GOP Operators That Should Be MORE Challenged
This was meant to say, ‘we mean business, you can’t keep pushing us and attacking us through proxies. You pay a price, ” Pavel added to Biden’s strike. “It’s a very different approach from the Trump administration. As I said, discriminate, calibrate, and target the use of force for certain military interests. “
Biden’s action has been praised by some Republicans who criticized his diplomatic rapprochement with Iran and by certain Democrats who saw it as a limited, proportionate response. But other Democrats questioned the legality of the strikes, saying they would not shrink from demanding the same answers they did when Trump took military action without congressional approval.
Biden, for his part, said the strike was intended to convey the message that “you cannot act with impunity.”
“Be careful,” he told reporters in Houston on Friday.
The airstrikes hit intermediate stations used by two Iranian-backed militias to transport weapons, personnel and supplies across the border from Syria to Iraq.
The attack was carried out by two F-15E fighter jets, which dropped seven precision guided ammunition, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said.
It completely destroyed nine facilities and damaged two others, leaving them “functionally destroyed,” Kirby added. The Pentagon had “preliminary indications.” There were victims on Friday, but Kirby refused to elaborate further because the damage assessment was not ready.
“I think the strike sends a message to everyone in the region, to all opponents in the region – organizations, people, leaders who operate in a way that is detrimental to the security and stability of the region and our interests in that of our partners – that we will defend ourselves, that we will protect our interests, ”Kirby said.
“We will certainly act to protect our people and the forces of our allies and partners,” he added. “That is an unambiguous, clear message to everyone in the region about what is at stake if you continue to attack our people and the Iraqi people.”
Biden ordered the attack after three recent missile attacks in Iraq, including one in Erbil that killed a non-US contractor working with US forces and injured several US contractors and one US military.
Immediately after the missile attacks, the Biden administration stopped attributing the blame, sparking some speculation that it was trying to keep temperatures low with Tehran as it seeks to revive the Iran nuclear deal.
The Trump administration had been quick to blame Tehran for similar missile attacks, but retaliation at one point brought the United States and Iran to the brink of war.
In late 2019, the US military carried out attacks in Iraq and Syria against an Iranian-backed militia in response to a missile strike that killed a US contractor. The tit-for-tat escalated to Trump’s drone strike on Soleimani, followed by an Iranian missile strike in Iraq that injured more than 100 US troops.
The Trump administration also hit militia in Iraq last March after a missile strike killed two US troops and a British military member. But the repercussions of that were minimal, as both the United States and Iran turned their attention to the coronavirus pandemic instead.
Biden has accepted an invitation from the European Union to join talks with Iran and other signatories to the Obama-era nuclear deal. The president has said he would rejoin the deal, which Trump has rescinded, if Iran comes back into agreement.
Since Trump withdrew, Iran has violated the limits of the uranium enrichment and storage deal, and it has recently restricted access for international nuclear inspectors. Tehran is pushing for the United States to lift the sanctions imposed by Trump before complying with the rules again.
Amid Biden’s diplomatic rapprochement, Republicans have warned him about lifting the sanctions. But after Thursday night’s strikes, some of those same critics praised Biden for indicating to Iran that he will not tolerate threats to US personnel.
“Last night, the US showed that attacks on US personnel and interests will not be tolerated,” said Rep. Mike Rogers
Michael (Mike) Dennis Rogers Night Defense: Biden Sends Message Air Strike in Syria | American information points to the murder of the Saudi crown prince in Khashoggi | Pentagon launches civil-led sexual assault commission. Night Defense: One Third of Service Employees Refuse Coronavirus Vaccine | Biden to take executive action in response to Solar Winds hack | US and Japan reach agreement on cost-sharing DOD says nearly one-third of service employees reject COVID-19 vaccine MORE (R-Ala.), The most senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. “I support President Biden’s response to provocations from Iran-backed militias. We must defend our interests abroad, and I hope the Biden administration continues to exert pressure to deter future aggression from Iran and its allies. “
The most senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. James Inhofe
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Still, Inhofe added, “the fact that Iran chose to escalate shortly after the government declared its intention to resume negotiations with Tehran has not gone unnoticed.”
“I hope the government will reconsider its current negotiation strategy with Iran and work with Congress on a two-pronged approach that will address Iran’s support for terrorism and its nuclear and ballistic missile program,” he said. “We cannot lift sanctions against a country that continues to attack Americans and our allies for murder.”
But the strike is unlikely to jeopardize diplomacy with Iran over the nuclear deal, said Pavel, a former Pentagon official.
There is a possibility that Iran will initially reject the talks after the strike, but it is ultimately in its best interest to return to the accord and have the sanctions lifted, he said.
So anyway, that doesn’t change their calculations on that. The same goes for the US, at least the Biden administration. It is in the interest of the US to go back and curb Iran’s nuclear program. , ”said Pavel.
Progressive Democrats, meanwhile, were dismayed that Biden turned to military action, blaming him mainly for not seeking prior congressional approval.
“There is absolutely no justification for a president to permit a military attack that is not in self-defense against an imminent threat without Congressional approval. We must break free from the Middle East, not escalate, ”Rep. Ro Khanna
Rohit (Ro) KhannaNight Defense: Biden Sends Message Air Strike In Syria American information points to the murder of the Saudi crown prince in Khashoggi | Pentagon launches citizen-led sexual assault committee Biden ‘disappointed’ in Senate parliamentary ruling but ‘respects’ decision Democrats try to improve reach to Asian and Latino communities MORE (D-Calif.) Said in a statement. “I spoke against an endless war with Trump, and I will speak against it if we have a Democratic president.”
The White House cited Biden’s authority under Article II of the Constitution to defend US personnel as the domestic legal authority for the strike. Under international law, the government cited Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which allows for self-defense against attacks.
“We had a rigorous process to include legal assessment of the strikes that were carried out,” said a spokesman for the National Security Council (NSC).
“The targets were chosen to match the recent attacks – the facilities are used by KSS and KH – and to deter the risk of additional attacks in the coming weeks,” she added, citing the abbreviations employed two Iranian-backed militias in the Iraqi Attacks: Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
The Pentagon informed congressional leadership of the strike, and government officials informed individual members and staff on Friday, the White House said.
There will also be a full secret briefing to lawmakers early next week, or “sooner if Congress wants it,” the NSC spokesman added.
Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith
David (Adam) Adam Smith Night Defense: Biden Sends Message Air Strike In Syria | American information points to the murder of the Saudi crown prince in Khashoggi | Pentagon Launches Civilian-Led Sexual Assault Commission The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented By Facebook – Full Screen Divided House Nearly 5,000 National Guard troops remain in DC over concerns about possible violence in March MORE (D-Wash.) Supported the attack as a “proportionate and appropriate” response to the recent missile attacks, but stressed the need for diplomacy.
“While the military strike was necessary to protect our personnel in the region and deter further attacks, I spoke to the Biden government’s national security team, and they are committed to using diplomacy and commitment to Iran,” he said. and also to work with our allies and partners. in the region to ease tensions in the future, ”he said in a statement. “I wholeheartedly support this effort.”