Yes, our troops should come home, and yes, they should be fiercely protected while serving overseas
The Biden Admin is grossly negligent and derelict of their ultimate duty in allowing for deadly attacks against U.S. troops in Jordan.
On Sunday, three U.S. Army soldiers were killed in an overnight drone attack on a U.S. military installation in Jordan. Another 34 (and counting) service members were injured in the attacks, and some were severely wounded, according to reports. The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the drone strikes.
According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the aforementioned group is not so much a singular militia but “an umbrella term used to describe the operations of all Iran-backed militias in Iraq, including strikes into Syria.”
When the operations against ISIS were in full swing, the U.S. outpost attacked on Sunday (called Tower 22) was both strategically and tactically significant for the mission, in addition to the hope that it would deter Iran-backed forces. Given its location in the northeast of Jordan, it allows American forces to be within close proximity to both Syria and Iraq while still being physically present in an allied country.
The reportedly sophisticated drone attack on the installation in Jordan appears to be a significant escalation from the status quo. The attack should be understood within the context that a reported 3,000 American troops are stationed across Jordan, which, under its Hashemite royal family, has long been a relatively steady American ally.
The Biden Administration ultimately created the conditions for emboldening a significantly weaker adversary to launch an attack against Americans within the borders of a U.S.-friendly country. Tehran and its subordinate militias clearly believe that Biden and the gang don’t have the cojones to fight back. Sadly, this clearly indicates that deterrence has broken down entirely.
First and foremost, the Biden Administration has the responsibility to protect our troops stationed oversees. They’ve failed to uphold that sacred duty. For several months, American soldiers have been sitting ducks in the Middle East, facing attack after attack of all shapes and sizes. In order to effectively deter an enemy, that enemy needs to believe that it’s not worth their time to experiment with the FAFO meme graph. Sunday’s tragedy was the inevitable result of a policy of drawing a line in the sand and failing to defend that line.
Now, there’s a separate conversation to be had about the wisdom (or the lack thereof) of having thousands of American troops deployed for years on end in some third world hell hole. Just as there is no real American interest in dumping hundreds of billions of dollars into an inter slavic squabble in the Donbas, there is also no U.S. interest in playing the role of permanent post 9/11 World Policeman in the Middle East.
In no way should this tragedy be parlayed into even further conflict in the Middle East. Tucker Carlson is right in describing the following legislators as “F**king lunatics” for their constant warmongering. Following the coming U.S. response, a sober White House would reevaluate the point of the endless engagement half way around the world.
Our troops should absolutely not be there right now. Just listen to Sec Def Lloyd Austin, who declared their presence necessary to “work for the lasting defeat of ISIS.” For those familiar with the way government agencies work, they won’t be particularly surprised that the Pentagon bureaucracy, cheered on by the D.C. lobbying institutions, have spawned a never ending justification for more “missions” against a virtually non existent entity.
However, while they’re over there, the commander in chief and his Pentagon should be creating the conditions to ensure that nobody messes with American soldiers deployed overseas. Instead, the Biden Administration’s idiocracy places our best and bravest in the worst position possible. They’re thrown into Middle East viper’s dens with no succinct mission to advance and no plausible deterrent to protect them from nearby threats.
Absolutely agree with Tucker, let’s give chickenhawk Lindsey Graham a rifle and drop him over there....might even give him a parachute.
Great article as usual! Ron Paul is more right every day.