Update(1452ET): It took a mere minutes after the headlines spread across the globe for the hawks and neocons to call on the White House to "hit them hard"—in reference to Iran and Iranian-linked groups believed responsible for the attack on a US outpost along the Jordanian border which killed three American troops and injured 25 more.
The government of Jordan has since said that none among their own troops were injured, which suggests all of the injured were Americans too. Below is a partial survey of the Congressional hawks who are now essentially calling for full-blown war against Iran and its proxies [emphasis ZH]...
"The only answer to these attacks must be a devastating military retaliation against Iran's terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East. Anything less will confirm Joe Biden as a coward unworthy of being commander-in-chief.'" —Republican Senator, Tom Cotton of Arkansas
"The Biden Administration can take out all the Iranian proxies they like, but it will not deter Iranian aggression. I am calling on the Biden Administration to strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces, but as deterrence against future aggression... Hit Iran hard, hit them now." —South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham
"Target Tehran" —Republican Senator from Texas John Cornyn
And as also fully expected, the think tank "armchair warrior" crowd is all in favor of sending more young Americans to fight and to die in the Middle East, based purely on another 'war of choice' with unclear end goals...
Mr. President, this crosses a line. You have to hit #IRGCterrorists and hit them hard. Aim for targets that hold strategic significance for #Iran's regime, not merely its proxies. Aim for the head of the Octopus, not merely its tentacles.
Of course, the neocons have had their sites set on Tehran and hoped-for regime change there going all the way back to the 1990's, as is evident from the writings of PNAC crowd (Project for the New American Century, which went on to largely staff GW Bush's cabinet).
Thankfully, Trump's initial statement did not echo the hawkish neocon line of some among the more outspoken GOP Congressmen..
But the reality is that the years-long US occupation of Syria, which happens to largely located in the oil and gas producing parts of the country, have left US forces as 'sitting ducks' yet without any clear identifiable mission or goal. The Biden administration knows this very well, having been quoted as saying the same merely a week ago in The New York Times:
The latest attack on American troops in the region over the weekend resulted in no deaths, but President Biden and his advisers worry that it is only a matter of time. Whenever a report of a strike arrives at the White House Situation Room, officials wonder whether this will be the one that forces a more decisive retaliation and results in a broader regional war.
3 comments:
IMO, WAY past time Iran receives a blowing message, way, way, past, like twenty plus years past, in my opinion!
History delineates the recycling of mankind's foibles - meaning it repeats itself. This bombing reminds me of another bombing in a remote obscure place named Pleiku. Suddenly massive aerial bombing began and thousands of ground troops showed up in Vietnam.
The difference today versus Vietnam is the players prefer the tit for tat warfare. Unlikely that thousands of troops roll up in Iran. Plus this administration would have to bring back the draft and they aren’t going to risk the backlash from that along with training their future opposition to their globalist intentions. Probably they will just toss a few guided missiles and call it a win.
Post a Comment