President Biden on Wednesday said drone attacks that recently injured two dozen U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria have “nothing to do with Israel” amid growing fears the Middle East conflict is expanding and has already roped in American forces.
The attacks have been blamed on Iran and its proxy forces.
Mr. Biden said he warned Tehran that the U.S. is prepared to respond harshly if they keep it up.
“My warning to the ayatollah was that if they continued to move against those troops, we will respond and he should be prepared. It has nothing to do with Israel,” Mr. Biden said at a joint White House press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Israel has widespread support within Washington as it goes after Hamas for the terror attacks, though the support is tempered by concerns about Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza and the risk of widening warfare.
“We have had troops in the region since 9/11 to go after ISIS and to prevent its reemergence … having nothing to do with Israel at all,” Mr. Biden said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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