Iran, allegedly, via proxy, attacked U.S. installments in Jordan yesterday.
Via Politico (emphasis added);
Top U.S. leaders issued a warning on Sunday to Iran-backed militants, a day after a drone attack killed three U.S. troops in Jordan, dramatically escalating the situation in the Middle East.
“We had a tough day last night in the Middle East. We lost three brave souls in an attack on one of our bases,” President Joe Biden said in South Carolina.
He then asked for a moment of silence and added: “And we shall respond.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the deaths and vowed that the strike would not go unanswered.
“Iran-backed militias are responsible for these continued attacks on U.S. forces, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing,” he said in a statement. “The president and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests.”
Three U.S. service members were killed and 25 more were wounded Saturday night in the drone attack. The assault marks the first time American troops have been killed in months of drone and missile attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria, and now Jordan that began not long after Hamas militants killed 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7. The hit impacted the base’s living quarters, according to a U.S. official, who like others was granted anonymity to speak about a developing situation.
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The corporate state media and the national security state have seized on the opportunity to promote instigating a full-scale war with Iran.
Joe Scarborough: I think a lot of Americans want to know: if the Iranians continue to sponsor attacks that kill Americans, that wound Americans, that cause serious problems for Americans and undermine American interests in the region, at what point do we actually go after the source of the attacks, Iran, and strike them where they are?
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby: Well, I think that I certainly understand Americans’ concern over these repeated attacks by groups that are backed by Iran, Joe… We’re gonna respond. We’ll do that. Obviously, we have three American families that got the worst possible news over the weekend… We’ve got to do what we have to do to protect our troops and our facilities… We know Iran’s backing these groups… We gotta do what we have to do.
Additionally, speaking to the press corps today, John Kirby would not commit to not striking Iran proper (not the proxy militia in Jordan it allegedly used to conduct the attack). He also refused to commit to Congressional consultations — Congress having the explicit right and duty to authorize warmaking — before launching an assault on Iran.
Make no mistake: attacking Iran, which would be no cakewalk even on its own, would almost certainly result in China and Russia jumping in on the other side, at which point we’d have World War III with nuclear powers.
The geopolitical reality — insulated as these technocrats are from it — is that the U.S. and the broader neoliberal world order have a three-front war brewing, nearly entirely of its own making: in Eurasia, the Middle East, and East Asia. Only a fool, hopped up on hubris and war contractor talking points, would believe it is capable of waging and winning even one of these without incurring nuclear annihilation, let alone all three at once.
This is the stuff of crumbled empires.
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