Responding here to no one, but, hey gang, let’s put this all on Biden and the hackneyed “Neocons,” and avert our eyes from their rivals, Trump’s “Traditional Conservatives/National Conservatives!"
Trying to avoid the one-dimensional, partisan, analysis (not to defend Biden, in any way, as he echoes Trump so well!) we will be seeing from media platforms who only look to the President as in charge of foreign policy, and not to the dynamics of what the “opposition party” has to say to influence foreign and military policy, as part of our systemic militarism (now "tri-partisan,” with Trump’s “Third Force”), here’s Trump’s “Realism and Restraint” answer to what happened.
Quote from Newsweek article: "The Pentagon confirmed to Newsweek on Sunday that three U.S. military personnel were killed and 25 more injured by a drone strike in Jordan, a close Middle Eastern ally to the United States. President Joe Biden blamed the strike on Iran-backed militants, with officials saying the attack had been launched from Syria. The troops were stationed near the Jordan-Syrian border."
Trump: "This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden's weakness and surrender," Trump, who is currently running for the GOP's presidential nomination to again challenge Biden, wrote in a series of Truth Social posts about the attack. He went on to tout his tough stance against Iran as president, saying that this attack "would NEVER have happened if" he was still in the White House."
"The troops were stationed near the Jordan-Syrian border.”
Tower 22, to be precise, if this is to be believed:
"Three U.S. troops were killed and dozens wounded after a drone hit a military outpost in Jordan known as Tower 22.
"Little is publicly known about the base. But it is near Al Tanf garrison, which is located across the border in Syria, and which houses a small number of U.S. troops. Tanf had been key in the fight against Islamic State and has assumed a role as part of a U.S. strategy to contain Iran's military build-up in eastern Syria.
"It is unclear how many U.S. troops are actually stationed on Tower 22. Also unclear are the type of weapons kept, air defenses used, and what exactly went wrong.
Regardless of which side of the border they were on, questions present themselves. Such as, who put them there? Or kept them there? Or increased their force numbers. Or are those questions frowned upon here?
They wouldn’t be for Carl von Clausewitz, who wrote "War is never an isolated act.” So here is a bit on how we got to this attack, before Biden’s “weakness” caused it.
Knowing these operations were begun by Obama, as part of the “GWOT,” what did Trump do when he took over the Regime?
"US President Donald Trump said Monday that a small number of US troops remain in Syria at the request of Israel and Jordan, with some positioned near the borders with Jordan and Israel and others deployed to secure oil fields.
“The other region where we’ve been asked by Israel and Jordan to leave a small number of troops is a totally different section of Syria, near Jordan, and close to Israel,” Trump said when asked whether he would leave soldiers in Syria. “So we have a small group there, and we secured the oil. Other than that, there’s no reason for it, in our opinion.”
Well, as long as it “was in our interests,” there’s nothing to criticize there!
"President Trump has repeatedly promised to end what he calls America’s “endless wars,” fulfilling a promise he made during the campaign.
"No wars have ended, though, and more troops have deployed to the Middle East in recent months than have come home. Mr. Trump is not so much ending wars, as he is moving troops from one conflict to another.(TP-that’s called a “shell game,” and a “sucker is born every second," to paraphrase P.T. Barnum, and appropriate to a grifter like Trump!)
. . .
"But, at any given time, between 45,000 and 65,000 American troops are in the region, spread out between Jordan and Oman, assigned to operate airfields, run key headquarters, sail warships and fly warplanes, and stage for deployments to places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. The numbers change substantially depending on the presence of an aircraft carrier strike group or two in the region, and whether a large group of Marines is afloat in those waters."
“What it will mean as far as U.S. forces on the ground will likely be about 600 troops, would be my guess,” Jack Keane, a retired Army general who has informally advised the Trump administration on national security issues, said of the oil mission.
“I think it needs to be a few hundred guys, 300 or 400 at least,” said Dana Pittard, a retired Army major general who was the senior U.S. commander in Iraq during the first year of the fight against ISIS in 2014-2015. “That’s about what I would be comfortable with, depending on how many sites they’re securing."
Quote: "But counterforces were also at work. Stephen K. Bannon, then still an influential adviser to the president, turned to John Bolton to draw up a new Iran strategy that would, as its first act, abrogate the Iran deal. Bolton, a Fox News commentator and former ambassador to the United Nations, had no official role in the administration as of yet, but Bannon saw him as an outside voice that could stiffen Trump’s spine — a kind of back channel to the president who could convince Trump that his Iran policy was adrift.”
Which he did, and was always his intention, with Netanyahu there to "stiffen his spine,” if necessary. Not that he needed one to wage his “Maximum Pressure Campaign” on Iran, to the cheers of the Heritage Foundation, with Project 2025 ready to take that “Maximum Pressure Campaign” even higher:
I hate to say it, but it’s America’s own fault for being soft this whole time! (Unlike Trump’s “strength," and clandestine war against Iran, etc., as if no one “fights back”)
And this one says it all:
This is all Biden’s fault! Weak leaders allow this to happen TRUMP 2024. Remember just 3 short years ago the world was at peace because America had a STRONG GREAT leader in TRUMP!!!!
Former President Donald Trump expressed his "profound sympathies" to the families of the three U.S. service members killed in an attack by Iran-backed militants on Sunday, blaming President Joe Biden for "this terrible day."
The Pentagon confirmed to Newsweek on Sunday that three U.S. military personnel were killed and 25 more injured by a drone strike in Jordan, a close Middle Eastern ally to the United States. President Joe Biden blamed the strike on Iran-backed militants, with officials saying the attack had been launched from Syria. The troops were stationed near the Jordan-Syrian border.
"This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden's weakness and surrender," Trump, who is currently running for the GOP's presidential nomination to again challenge Biden, wrote in a series of Truth Social posts about the attack. He went on to tout his tough stance against Iran as president, saying that this attack "would NEVER have happened if" he was still in the White House.
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at Big League Dreams Las Vegas on January 27 in Nevada. Trump blamed President Joe Biden's "weakness" for an attacked carried out by Iran-backed militants on...David Becker/Getty Images
"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. Our Country cannot survive with Joe Biden as Commander in Chief," the former president wrote.
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"Jill and I join the families and friends of our fallen—and Americans across the country—in grieving the loss of these warriors in this despicable and wholly unjust attack. These service members embodied the very best of our nation: Unwavering in their bravery," Biden said in a statement released by the White House after the news broke.
The situation in the Middle East has grown increasingly precarious for the U.S. and its forces stationed there since October 7 when Hamas launched an attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis and took 240 people hostage. Israel responded by cutting off critical supplies and electricity to Gaza, declaring war against Hamas.
In the months since the war began, more than 26,000 Palestinians have been killed, the Associated Press reported. Thousands more Palestinians remain missing or severely wounded, and an estimated 80 percent of the more than 2 million people residing in Gaza have been displaced.
Biden's administration has strongly supported Israel throughout the war. In response, Iran-backed groups have targeted U.S. troops in the Middle East with regular attacks. Since mid-November, the Iran-aligned Houthi militants in Yemen have launched exploding drones and missiles at vessels in the Red Sea and the U.S. has responded by carrying out a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
"The soldiers killed and the service members wounded in an outpost on the border of Jordan and Syria should not have been there. The outpost attacked seems to be attached to the U.S. mission in Syria, which is unauthorized, increasingly foolish, and an invitation to war with Iran," Defense Priorities Policy Director Benjamin H. Friedman said in email to Newsweek on Sunday.
Friedman said that the militants "should be held accountable." However, he also said that the U.S. should ask why troops "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.
Update 1/28/2024 at 2:42 p.m. ET: This story was initially published as breaking, and additional information and analyst comment were added.
