The US’ response to the drone attack in Jordan that killed and wounded US service members on Sunday is likely to be more powerful than previous American retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria, officials told CNN, though the Pentagon and White House are being careful not to telegraph the administration’s plans.
President Joe Biden is under increasing pressure to respond in a way that stops these attacks for good. Iran-backed militants have targeted US military facilities in Iraq and Syria over 160 times since October, and several Republican lawmakers have called for the US to hit inside Iran directly to send a clear message.
But the biggest challenge now for the Biden administration is how to respond to the drone strike – the deadliest attack on US forces in the region since the bombing at Abbey Gate killed 13 US service members in the closing days of the Afghanistan withdrawal – without sparking a regional war.
That’s been the argument for 45 years. “Gotta have bases over there. Gotta make sure we can manipulate these countries, don’t want them doing something we don’t like.”
What has it gotten us? Are we in a better position now? Are the people who live there in a better position?
Better than if countries in middle east were blowing up whatever they wanted? Absolutely.
Kuwait exists as a country because the west is in the Middle East. Global markets depend on the waterways around the middle east being clear and oil from the middle east pumping.
So we can claim one tiny country 34 years ago as a victory. Meanwhile, the rest of the middle east has turned into a disaster compared to what it was in the 60s. That’s all due to American/western meddling for the last half century. These countries are in a position of “blowing up whatever they want” because of the US.
Creating problems, thn kinda sorta halfway fixing them is not a sustainable strategy.