The long peace under President Trump is over and the new militarism under Democratic president Joe Biden is upon us. On Sunday, the U.S. conducted airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia in Syria and Iraq.
According to the Associated Press, the airstrikes were directed at “facilities used Iran-backed militia group groups near the border of Iraq/Syria,” according to the Associated Press.
John Kirby, Defense Press Secretary, stated that the ‘militias were using facilities to launch unmanned aerial vehicles attacks against U.S troops in Iraq’, according to the AP. He also said that the military aimed at ‘three operational and weapons storage facilities — one in Syria, and one in Iraq.
He called the airstrikes “defensive” and said they were launched to counter an “ongoing series attacks by Iran-backed organizations targeting U.S. interest in Iraq.”
“Mr. Kirby said the facilities were used by Iranian-backed militias, including Kata’ib Hezbollah and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, to store arms and ammunition for carrying out attacks against places where Americans were located in Iraq. There were no immediate reports of casualties but a military after-action review is ongoing, Pentagon officials said,” the NY Times reported.
“Al Jazeera’s Mahmoud Abdelwahed, who is in Baghdad, said the attacks were ‘significant’ and noted that the groups targeted were threatening to retaliate,” the network reported.
“After this threat we might see an escalation against military facilities,” he said.
Biden and the White House declined to comment on the attacks on Sunday.
It is the second time the Biden administration has taken military action in the Middle East. The U.S. launched airstrikes in February against Syrian facilities near the Iraqi border, which it said were being used by Iranian-backed militia groups.
Biden said at the time that Iran is being warned that the U.S. will retaliate if militia groups target American troops.
“You can’t act with impunity. Be careful,” Biden said.
The Democratic president’s lack of hesitancy to use military action contrasts with the peaceful presidency of Donald Trump, who withdrew troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and did not initiate a foreign war.
