The U.S. military’s luck finally ran out on Sunday when an exploding drone landed on a small U.S. military outpost known as Tower 22 in Jordanian territory near the Iraq-Syria border. Three U.S. military personnel were killed and more than 30 injured, raising urgent questions about why U.S. air defenses failed. President Biden blamed the attack on “Iran-backed extremist militias operating in Syria and Iraq” and vowed, “We will hold everyone responsible accountable, once and for all, in the manner of our choosing.” .
The deaths of U.S. military personnel make it clear that a larger response is needed than what the U.S. has done so far with limited airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias, most recently in Iraq on Tuesday. is. But knowing how to respond to proxy wars is always terribly difficult, so it is not clear what that response should be.
The United States did not bomb China or the Soviet Union, even though they provided the munitions and even the pilots that were killing American servicemen in the Korean and Vietnam wars. The Soviet Union did not bomb the United States in the 1980s when the United States provided ammunition to Afghan resistance fighters who were killing Red Army soldiers. Today, Russia does not bomb America or European NATO countries, even though it provides Ukraine with ammunition used to kill Russian invaders. Should the United States now respond to Iranian-orchestrated provocations by bombing Iran?
This is expected advice from hawkish Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.). He called on Biden on Sunday to “strike critical targets inside Iran.” Fellow hawkish Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told Biden:target tehran” But remember that even President Donald Trump had no intention of attacking inside Iran. In 2019, President Trump came close to ordering an airstrike on Iran in retaliation for Iran’s downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, but changed his mind at the last minute. There’s a good reason for that. Since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Iran has sponsored terrorism against the United States, but every U.S. president has recognized that getting into a major conflict with Iran is in no one’s interest.
Iran’s Houthi allies have already attacked ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a maritime chokepoint that handles nearly a third of the world’s container shipping traffic, thereby raising shipping costs. There is. Now imagine if Iran used drones, mines, and missiles to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, an even more important chokepoint that handles about a third of the world’s maritime oil trade. A conflict with Iran could reel the U.S. economy and other economies that have just weathered pandemic-era inflation.
And it is far from the only deterrent power Iran has. Iran has supplied Lebanese ally Hezbollah with at least 150,000 missiles targeting Israel. While Israeli forces are involved in the Gaza conflict, the last thing Israel needs is a two-front war. The Houthis could also resume missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, despite both countries’ efforts over the past year to improve relations with Iran.
But while the Biden administration should refrain from bombing Iran unless there are further provocations, it is clear that more needs to be done to deter Iranian aggression. As difficult as it may be for the White House to swallow, it is necessary to take a page from the Trump administration’s book. In 2020, the U.S. military carried out a drone strike in Iraq that killed Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, which is responsible for the proxy war against Iran’s enemies. That didn’t stop the Quds Force from continuing to support militias across the region, but Retired Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie Jr., then commander of U.S. Central Command, said Soleimani’s killing was an attack on Iran’s It is said that the attack was disrupted and stopped. Targeting U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
While the Biden administration is understandably reluctant to enter into an escalatory spiral with Iran, it is clear that the time has come to show Iran that it cannot kill American troops with impunity. The Iranian government will not care if the US targets more militia members and militia leaders. From Iran’s perspective, they are expendable. To get Iran’s attention, the United States would need to target Soleimani’s successors: Quds Force personnel in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, or Lebanon. General Ismail Qaani. There are many subordinate Revolutionary Guard officers, such as commanders, who could be targeted as well. Khalil Zahedi oversees Iran’s extensive presence in Syria.
Finding these terrorists lurking in the shadows is not easy, but U.S. intelligence agencies, working with allied intelligence agencies, have successfully tracked down just about anyone, from Hezbollah terror mastermind Imad Mughniyeh to Al Qaeda founder. We have shown that it can be eliminated. Osama Bin Laden. Like Mughniyeh and bin Laden, today’s Quds Force leaders have American blood in their veins, and they must pay the price.
In addition to targeting Iranian operatives, the Biden administration should do more to target Iran’s economy with sanctions. Upon taking office, Biden eased sanctions enforcement in hopes of reinstating the Iran nuclear deal that Trump foolishly withdrew from. But since the nuclear deal remains dead, there is no good reason not to continue tightening sanctions against Iran. This will require persuading U.S. allies Britain, France and Germany to go along, but Iran’s escalating aggression makes the case for economic repression better than any administration report.
Biden recognizes the need to deter Iran while avoiding a major war with the Islamic Republic, but steps taken so far are clearly insufficient to protect U.S. forces in the region was. The United States needs to do more without going too far and causing more widespread fires. Redressing this balance will be difficult, but if anyone can do it, it is a president with decades of diplomatic experience.