Biden faces growing calls to strike Iran directly in response to the drone strike that killed three troops: Republicans denounce Joe’s ‘appeasement’ of Tehran, while Democrats urge him not to involve the US dragged into a war in the Middle East
As the nation continues to mourn the loss of three U.S. troops in the Jordan drone strike, President Biden faces calls from Republicans to strike on Iranian soil while facing conflicting pressure to prevent military escalation.
The White House gave assurances on Monday that the US would respond to the drone strike at a time of its choosing, even amid public reports of potential targets, while the country’s top diplomat, Antony Blinken, spoke of the chaos in the region.
“This is an incredibly volatile time in the Middle East,” Blinken told reporters during a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “I would like to say that since at least 1973, and perhaps even before that, we have never seen such a dangerous situation as the one we are now facing across the region,” he said.
“We will respond decisively to any aggression, and we will hold those who attacked our troops accountable,” Blinken said Monday in some direct comments from a U.S. official on the matter. ‘That response could be multi-level, staged and sustained over time.”
The White House on Monday released an image of a meeting between President Biden and his security team, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as the administration prepares for an attack on a US base in Jordan.
Among the hawks publicly calling for a strike on Iran, which the US says was behind the attack, is South Carolina GOP Senator Lindsey Graham.
“I call on the Biden administration to strike key targets inside Iran, not only in retaliation for the killing of our armed forces, but also as a deterrent to future aggression,” he said in a statement. ‘The only thing the Iranian regime understands is violence. “Until they pay a price with their infrastructure and their personnel, the attacks on American forces will continue,” he added. ‘Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.”
“It is long past time for this regime to pay a heavy price,” Graham wrote.
The White House and Pentagon have identified the likely perpetrators and have backed Iran’s Revolutionary Guards despite Tehran’s denials of leading the attack.
“We know this is an IRGC-backed militia that has the footprints of Kata’ib Hezbollah, but we are not making a final judgment on that yet,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Monday, describing a Tehran-backed Iraqi Shiite militia identified.
The president again warned that the US would “hold those responsible accountable.” He met with members of his security team, including Austin, who worked from home for weeks after being hospitalized
From left to right: Sp. Kennedy Sanders, Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The three US Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia were killed by a drone strike on Sunday
Biden spent Monday behind closed doors meeting with his security team, including reinstated Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Potential American targets are already starting to emerge.
The New York Times reported that the US was looking at drone factories and their suppliers abroad, which are also arming the Houthis in Yemen, who have fired strikes against shipping targets and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.
The Wall Street Journal has floated options including an attack in Iran, targeting proxy groups abroad, and even more financial pressure.
Preparations for a possible counterattack were underway on a day when the Pentagon announced the three American casualties following the one-way drone attack on a US base in Jordan. They were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia; Sp. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, from Savannah, Georgia.
Another harsh statement came from the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.). “It is long past time for President Biden to hold the terrorist Iranian regime and its extremist allies accountable for the attacks they have committed,” he said.
Republican Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi said: “We must respond to these repeated attacks by Iran and its allies by striking directly against Iranian targets and its leadership. … The Biden administration’s responses thus far have only led to more attacks.”
Any president would face pressure to respond, and those calls are amplified in an election year. Biden is also getting advice from Donald Trump’s former UN ambassador and chief rival Nikki Haley – who continues to tear the election between “two 80-year-olds.”
“On the very first strike, you hit back and you hit back hard,” she told CNBC.
“You go after wherever those missiles are, the production, wherever it is in Iraq and Syria. You go after the leaders who make the decisions. It is not about Iran, the country, but about the people who make these decisions.’
‘You have to be strategic. It doesn’t start a war, it actually prevents war,” Haley said.
Even after 160 attacks on American troops, the White House is trying to prevent escalation. White House national security spokesman John Kirby warned Monday that “we will respond in a very consistent manner.” He then added, “But we are not seeking war with Iran. We are not looking for a broader conflict in the Middle East.’
Underscoring one of the tensions, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was scheduled to meet at the White House on Tuesday with families of hostages held in Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. This comes amid talks about a possible two-month pause in Israeli attacks on Hamas and the release of 100 hostages.