US retaliatory airstrikes updates: White House vows to take 'more action' after deadly drone attack
Saturday's strikes in Yemen followed ones in Iraq and Syria the day prior.
The United States on Friday began to carry out airstrikes against Iran-backed militants and Iranian military targets in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a drone attack on an American base in Jordan on Jan. 28 that killed three U.S. service members.
Dozens of other American troops were wounded in the drone attack on the Tower 22 base near Jordan's border with Iraq and Syria. The U.S. says Iran is responsible for funding and arming the militants while Iran has denied involvement.
U.S. President Joe Biden had quickly warned that America would respond forcefully, escalating U.S. involvement in the Middle East after months of trying to contain tensions from boiling over into a broader war in the region.
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What we know about the drone attack on US base in Jordan
The U.S. has attributed the drone attack on the American base in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias.
According to a U.S. official, the drone that successfully hit the base was an Iranian-made Shahed drone, similar to those used by the Russians on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Iran has denied involvement in the Jordan strike. But President Joe Biden earlier this week faulted Iran for providing munitions and funding to these different proxy groups.
The U.S. base is known as Tower 22, a major logistical hub for U.S. troops still in Syria on a mission to prevent a resurgence by Islamic State fighters. According to Central Command, there are approximately 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel deployed to the base.
Correction: Initial round of strikes not from US
An initial battery of strikes in Syria did not come from the U.S., sources say. U.S. strikes are still anticipated.
Blinken, in coming Middle East visit, to continue work on preventing wider conflict
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Middle East from Sunday to Thursday, making stops in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank.
It will mark Blinken’s fifth visit to the region since Oct. 7.
One focus, according to the State Department, will be to continue work to prevent the conflict from spreading -- a major concern as the U.S. readies retaliatory strikes -- while also “reaffirming that the United States will take appropriate steps to defend its personnel and the right to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea.”
Biden attends dignified transfer ceremony for fallen troops
Biden joined grieving families at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to witness the return of the remains of three fallen Army reservists killed in Jordan.
He was accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. CQ Brown.
They met with the families privately before receiving the remains, the White House said.
The Pentagon identified the fallen soldiers as Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46, of Carrollton, Georgia.; Spc. Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross, Georgia.; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, Georgia.
US will have a 'multi-tiered' response
The Biden administration has been preparing to strike back in the Middle East after three American troops were killed and dozens more wounded in a drone attack in Jordan on Sunday.
"We will have multi-tiered response, and again, we have the ability to respond a number of times depending on what the situation is," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Thursday.
The Pentagon has declined to get into specifics on when and where the strikes would take place, although Austin said the goal is to degrade the capabilities of Iran-backed militants without plunging the region into a broader war
A U.S. official familiar with the plan said the strikes will unfold across several days and hit multiple countries including Iraq, Syria and possibly Yemen.
Biden's retaliatory strikes come with risks of escalation and political consequences: Experts
President Biden is facing a turning point in the Middle East conflict that carries significant risks of escalation and heavy election-year political consequences.
The debate inside the White House ahead of the retaliatory strikes was tense, according to a U.S. official, as the administration weighed options that some believe will send a clear message to Iran-backed proxy groups to stop the attacks and others fear could trigger broader fighting in the region.
"The choices that any administration and every administration have faced since the Iranian Revolution are fraught," Aaron David Miller, a former State Department official, told ABC News. "They are not between good and bad policies. They're between bad and worse policies."
Biden's decision making is made only more complicated by the impending election, they said. Many Republicans, including Donald Trump, have accused him of being weak in his response to Iran-backed groups and their attacks on U.S. forces.
"He's in a politically tough spot because policy would compel him to think about this and act with a scalpel," the Center for a New American Security's Jonathan Lord said. "But this being an election this year, and this being probably the premier foreign policy issue Republicans are lining up to cudgel him with, he can't let policy be the only consideration here. Politics, of course, plays a role."
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