A drone attack on an American base in Jordan killed three U.S. military personnel and wounded at least 25 others, U.S. officials said Sunday, prompting President Biden to blame “radical Iran-backed militant groups” operating inside Syria and Iraq.
It marked the first time American service members have been killed in months of drone and missile attacks on U.S. troops in the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel.
The three service members, who were advising local Iraqi and Kurdish forces combating the remnants of the Islamic State terrorist group, were not immediately named pending notification of family.
“The three American service members we lost were patriots in the highest sense, and their ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten by our nation,” Mr. Biden said in a statement Sunday.
The president vowed that those who carried out the drone strike would be held responsible “at a time and in a matter of our choosing.”
Later, Mr. Biden asked for a moment of silence during an appearance at the banquet hall of a church in Columbia, South Carolina.
“We had a tough day last night in the Middle East, and we shall respond,” he said.
Republicans were demanding quick action and blaming Mr. Biden.
Former President Donald Trump said the brazen drone attack was “yet another horrific and tragic consequence” of Mr. Biden’s weakness on the world stage.
He said Iran was “weak, broke, and totally under control” until Mr. Biden infused it with billions of dollars, which Tehran has used to spread violence throughout the Middle East.
“This attack would never have happened if I was President, not even a chance,” Mr. Trump said. “This terrible day is yet more proof that we need an immediate return to ‘Peace Through Strength’ so that there will be no more chaos, no more destruction, and no more loss of precious American lives.”
Tower 22, a small American military outpost in Jordan near the Syrian border, was attacked on Saturday.
More than 150 attacks in recent weeks have targeted U.S. and coalition forces operating in Iraq and Syria. U.S. officials have characterized them as generally unsuccessful because they didn’t cause serious injuries or significant damage to infrastructure.
Some U.S. troops have sustained brain injuries from the blasts and noise effects, and two Navy SEALs are presumed dead after going overboard in the Arabian Sea while their boat was intercepting another vessel carrying weapons to Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The strike Saturday marks a turning point in the fight — the first U.S. deaths in the region to result directly from hostile action.
On Sunday, U.S. Central Command released a bare-bones statement about the attack that didn’t address why air defenses at Tower 22 failed to intercept the drone.
The Biden administration has been desperate to keep the fighting between Hamas and Israel confined to the Gaza Strip and not escalate into a major regional war.
Pro-Iran militias throughout the region have had other ideas since Hamas killed more than 1,200 Israeli and foreign civilians and took hundreds more hostage.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the weekend’s fatal attack, though three officials with Iran-backed militias in Iraq told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity that the attack in Jordan was launched by one of those groups.
The Houthis have launched drones and missiles at commercial ships and naval vessels passing Yemen and in the Red Sea. The U.S. and Britain have retaliated with air and missile attacks.
“We want to ensure that we take away [Houthi] capability while we protect our forces [and], at the same time, not have this broaden into a much wider conflict,” Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday on ABC News.
Several Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill said Iran and its proxies have not been deterred by any plan orchestrated by the White House.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said the Biden administration’s tough rhetoric is falling on deaf ears in Tehran because only its proxies, not Iran itself, are being punished.
“The Biden administration can take out all the Iranian proxies they like, but it will not deter Iranian aggression,” Mr. Graham said.
He called on the White House to strike significant targets inside Iran proper as a reprisal for killing the U.S. troops and to prevent further attacks.
“The only thing the Iran regime understands is force. Until they pay a price with their infrastructure and their personnel, the attacks on U.S. troops will continue,” Mr. Graham said.
With the death of the American personnel, Rep. Mike Rogers, Alabama Republican and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said it was “long past time” for Mr. Biden to hold Iran and its terrorist proxies accountable for their attacks on U.S. and allied forces.
“Three American service members made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation and our freedoms,” Mr. Rogers said.
Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas Republican and an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, called for attacks inside Iran and across the region. “Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander in chief,” he said.
Despite the calls from some congressional leaders to strike Iran in retaliation, Benjamin H. Friedman of Defense Priorities said the U.S. should “hit the brakes” because it wasn’t obvious that Tehran was directly involved.
“Their links to militias in the region should not be equated with command and control and vary considerably among the different groups they loosely support,” said Mr. Friedman, the think tank’s policy director. “Launching a massive war in response to this awful attack might feel good, but it would not serve U.S. interests.”
He said the soldiers, stationed at an isolated outpost on the Jordan-Syria border, shouldn’t have been put in a position so vulnerable to attack and part of an ill-defined and legally dubious mission.
“The militia that killed U.S. forces should be held accountable. But we should ask why U.S. forces in the area were left in range of repeated drone, missile and rocket attacks. What cause justified this predictable danger? The answer is none,” he said. “The U.S. government put them in harm’s way in service of a murky and pointless mission.”
Sen. Jack Reed, Rhode Island Democrat and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was “angered and saddened” by the “despicable” attack against American service members.
“The Department of Defense is still gathering all the facts from this attack. I am confident the Biden administration will respond in a deliberate and proportional manner,” he said.
Mr. Graham said everything the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has done to deter aggression against U.S. forces in the Middle East has “failed miserably.”
“I’ve long since lost confidence in the Biden national security team to deter Iran,” he said. “If they do not change their policies now, more American service members in the region will pay the price. Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.”
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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