When a drone laden with explosives was found late last month lodged in the upper floors of U.S. barracks in Iraq, Pentagon officials quickly realized how close the suspected militia-launched weapon came to killing American personnel.
In this case, the explosives failed to detonate, and there were no reports of injuries. But as the number of these attacks escalates, so too does the risk of a deadly incident that will demand a response from the U.S. military, edging it closer to direct confrontation with Iranian-backed groups it suspects are responsible.
“They are aiming to kill,” a U.S. defense official said. “We have just been lucky.”
The attack on U.S. troops at the al-Asad air base highlights the dilemma facing the Biden administration as it attempts to deter Iranian-backed militias while avoiding conflict with Iran or antagonizing the U.S.-allied government in Iraq, where many of the attacks were launched.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, saying it focused in part on sending a message to those actors who threaten U.S. personnel in the region or elsewhere in the world.
“I’ve been very clear that attacks, threats, coming from militia that are aligned to the rounds are totally unacceptable,” Blinken told reporters. “We will take every necessary step to protect our people. We’re not looking for conflict with Iran. We’ve made that very clear, but we’ll do what’s necessary to protect our personnel.”
The Pentagon confirmed the barracks attack, saying it highlighted “the potential danger these drone and rocket attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups present to U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, which is why we take them so seriously and have taken action in response.”
Hours after the drone landed on the barracks, the U.S. said it launched strikes on two bases in eastern Syria that it believed were used by Iranian groups, the first U.S. offensive military response to a wave of drone and rocket attacks on troops based in Iraq and Syria.
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