Retaliation, Biden style

In response to the killing of three American soldiers in a drone strike conducted by Iranian proxy forces, the United States struck over 85 Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force and Iranian-backed militia targets in Iraq and Syria yesterday. According to Critical Threats, Iranian-backed Iraqi militias said that they will continue attacks targeting US forces until US forces are expelled from Iraq.

Centcom’s press release announcing the strikes is posted here. According to Centcom the 85 targets were struck with more than 125 precision munitions. The facilities that were struck “included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicle storage, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces.”

The White House posted a statement in the name of President Biden. The statement is posted here. It vowed further strikes “at times and places of our choosing.” They let us know all week that it was coming.

We can infer that the Biden administration believes in telegraphing its punches. Marc Thiessen poses a rhetorical question: “How stupid do you have to be to announce you will strike two days in advance and where[?]” It’s smart if you want to minimize the damage done (or to be done).

The administration also believes in repetition. The statement attributed to Biden includes this variation of what has become an administration mantra: “The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.” It reminds me of LBJ’s classic one-liner on Vietnam at the time of the Gulf of Tonkin incident: “We still seek no wider war.” Although the intent and the circumstances vary greatly, both statements carry the air of fiasco. Senator Tom Cotton made these points and others in his own way on Fox News last night.

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