President Joe Biden has spoken out about U.S. military strikes that have pounded militia targets in Iraq and Syria — signaling that more displays of military power are on the way.
The president first referred to his attendance at the dignified handover ceremony for three U.S. troops killed in the Jordan drone strike, then only briefly described the complex airstrike the U.S. orchestrated in response days later.
“Our response started today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” Biden said, in just the latest example of linguistic telegraphy, a sustained response.
The White House broadcast the statement while the president was at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, after attending the ceremony at Dover Air Force Base.
“Our response started today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” President Joe Biden said in a written statement after the US unleashed attacks on militia targets in Iraq and Syria.
‘Last Sunday, three US soldiers were killed in Jordan by a drone launched by militant groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Earlier today, I attended the dignified return of these brave Americans to Dover Air Force Base and spoke with each of their families,” Biden began.
“This afternoon, at my direction, U.S. forces targeted facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militias use to attack U.S. forces,” he said.
Amid concerns about the expansion of a broader war and warnings from Tehran, Biden said that “the United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.” But let anyone who wants to harm us know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”
Lt. Gen. Arthur Sims, director of operations for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, told reporters on a national security call Friday evening that the U.S. had hit 85 targets, relying on B-1 planes sent from the continental United States.
“This was designed around the weather, when we had our best chances in terms of the weather.”
Lt. Gen. Arthur Sims, director of operations for the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, told reporters on a national security call Friday evening that the U.S. had hit 85 targets.
“We carried out these attacks tonight with the understanding that there would likely be casualties among the people who were in those facilities,” he said.
He said targeting would “affect their ability to conduct future attacks against Americans.”
National security spokesman John Kirby said Biden was kept briefed on the operation throughout the afternoon.
Kirby said the targets were “carefully selected to avoid civilian casualties.”
He said there was “clear, irrefutable evidence that (the targets) were linked to attacks.”
The targets “were carefully chosen as facilities that we knew were involved and used by the IRGC and these militant groups in attacks on U.S. personnel,” he said.
There has been “no communication” with Iran since the drone strike in Jordan, he said, although the White House is clearly hoping the strikes will not trigger an escalation from Tehran.
“We are not pursuing a target with Iran,” Kirby said, when asked why no targets within Iran were selected. Instead, the targets supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards outside Iran were selected.
Kirby cited weather and other factors as to why the strikes were carried out Friday. “It had no connection – none at all – with the timing of today’s dignified handover at Dover Air Base,” he said.
“The attacks must stop,” Kirby said, referring to repeated attacks on American forces and interests abroad since Israel began its war against Hamas. “These reactions started tonight. They don’t end tonight.’
The comments from the White House and military came after the US launched a devastating wave of airstrikes against Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops.
Multiple long-range bombers and drones hit 85 targets with 125 bombs on Friday evening in the widespread military operation.
Two two B-1 bombers flew from the US for the mission and hit multiple targets linked to the IRGC and Iranian-backed militias, including command and intelligence centers and areas where missiles, rockets and drones were stored.
The massive operation is the first by the US to hit back after the deadly attack by Iranian-backed militias on the Tower 22 base near Jordan’s borders with Syria and Iraq on Sunday.
Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, were killed and dozens of troops were injured in the attack that raised further tensions in the Middle East.
President Joe Biden ordered the attacks just hours after attending the dignified transfer ceremony for their remains at Dover Air Force Base.
Biden mentioned that he was present at the dignified transfer of the remains of Army Reserve Sergeants William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders and Breonna Moffett, three US service members killed in a drone strike in Jordan
Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia (left) and Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, were killed in the drone strike on a US air base in Jordan
He held his hand over his heart as he watched their flag-draped coffins being carried across the tarmac after returning to their home turf.
Shortly after the solemn ceremony ended, he authorized the massive response he had been threatening for days.
“Last Sunday, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan by a drone launched by militant groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” Biden said on Friday.
“Earlier today I attended the dignified return of these brave Americans to Dover Air Force Base and spoke with each of their families.
“This afternoon, at my direction, U.S. forces targeted facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militias use to attack U.S. forces.
“Our response started today. It will take place at times and places of your choice. The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.
“But let anyone who wants to harm us know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”
It is unclear what the next steps will be and when they will occur, or whether the days of U.S. warnings have caused militia members to disperse and go into hiding.
But the recent statement by Kataeb Hezbollah, one of the main Iranian-backed militias, suspending attacks on US forces did not affect the government’s plans to retaliate.
National Security Council member John Kirby said the response to the deadly drone strike will be “differentiated” and “may include multiple actions over time.”
Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, from Savannah, Georgia, has been identified as one of the soldiers killed in the drone strike
The attacks come almost a week after Iran-backed militias attacked the Tower 22 base near Jordan’s borders with Syria and Iraq.
“At 4:00 p.m. EST on February 2, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militias,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement declaration. .
“US forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft, including long-range bombers, flown from the United States.
‘The air strikes used more than 125 precision munitions.
“The facilities affected included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets and missiles, and unmanned vehicle warehouses, and logistics and munitions supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors that facilitated attacks on U.S. and coalition forces. .’