On Thursday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the attack, which injured more than 30 soldiers, was part of the “Axis of Resistance,” a term used to describe a loose collection of Iranian-backed militias fighting the United States, Israel and Western nations. He said it was due to. general. After the October 7 terrorist attack on Israel, the group was renamed the Iraqi Islamic Resistance, with the express purpose of targeting Americans in the region.
Austin did not talk about Tower 22. Approximately 350 U.S. military personnel are stationed at Tower 22, almost all of them on non-combat missions. These forces work with the Jordanian military, and Tower 22 supports a nearby U.S. military garrison of about 200 soldiers called al-Tanf just over the Syrian border. Both U.S. outposts protect a Syrian refugee camp called Rukban, where about 8,000 Syrian civilians have lived for years and are otherwise unable to receive any aid. Since October 7, there have been more than 160 attacks on US forces in the region. More than 30 of them targeted Tower 22 or Al Tanf. Sunday was the first death toll.
So why not bring them all home? In the short term, that would be exactly what Iran wants: kicking U.S. forces out of the region and taking control of vast swaths of territory from Tehran to Beirut. right. And in the long run, the United States will abandon the mission of Tower 22 and the other American military bases there: fighting the Islamic State and protecting civilians.
Syrian rebel forces Those working with U.S. forces in the region to hunt Islamic State terrorists would not be able to do so without U.S. support.on wednesday i said this Colonel Farid Al Qassem, commander of one of U.S. partner forces in Syria. He told me that it would be a disaster if the US military left.
“The small footprint of these bases is very important. Their primary mission is to disrupt the supply route of weapons and fighters to ISIS between Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.” “This is the best way to prevent an ISIS resurgence in the region.”
Tower 22 and al-Tanf are part of a network of small bases that also complicate Iran’s ability to transport weapons and supplies to groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Another advantage is that Syrian civilians living near the base are protected from militias and Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
“It is important to have visibility of the important humanitarian and security operations taking place in the region,” Al Qassem told me. “This is a very strategic area, but no one is paying attention.”
The Syria Emergency Task Force is a U.S. non-governmental organization that works with the U.S. military and Syrian opposition forces to provide humanitarian assistance to Syrian civilians. Tower 22 is relied upon as a transport and logistics hub to deliver food, medicine and other essentials to Syrian refugees in Rukban camp, who may otherwise starve.
“The targeting of Tower 22, al-Tanf and other U.S. military bases in Syria is an effective way to deter Iran from achieving its expansionist objectives,” said Mouaz Mustafa, the group’s executive director. , because we are supporting besieged populations like Rukban.”
Austin said the Biden team is planning a response targeting those who attack U.S. troops. He said there are currently no plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria or Jordan. Meanwhile, lawmakers and commentators have criticized the administration for not protecting U.S. forces operating in the increasingly tense and unstable Middle East. Certainly, more needs to be done to ensure the security of deployed forces and deter militias and their Iranian backer.
Stationing small numbers of U.S. troops in strategically important outposts in the Middle East is not the same as fighting “forever wars.” It’s insurance against worse outcomes. Americans are willing to pay for this insurance as long as it does not involve the death of a U.S. military member.
The US has a tendency to abdicate its security responsibilities in the Middle East, only to reverse and overcompensate later when the situation worsens. The last time U.S. troops invaded and fled the Middle East, Islamic State fighters filled the security vacuum and the U.S. (and dozens of other countries) had to send back thousands of troops to remove them. I had to. That never-ending cycle is a recipe for real eternal war.
The American soldiers who died at Tower 22 were performing a noble and necessary mission to keep the region and the United States safe when they were attacked. Now it is up to the rest of us to ensure that their sacrifices are not in vain and their vital mission is not abandoned.