Topline
At least three American soldiers were killed in a drone strike that injured another 25 servicemembers on a military base on Sunday in northeastern Jordan, the White House said, the first U.S. deaths in the Middle East since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel—and Republicans are demanding an immediate response.
The attack took place at a small outpost near the Syrian border.
Key Facts
An unmanned aerial drone struck American troops at Tower 22, a small outpost in Jordan near the country’s border with Syria, CNN reported.
At least 34 servicemembers were being treated for possible traumatic brain injuries, Reuters reported citing U.S. officials, and some were transported off base for additional medical care.
Tower 22 is located close to the al-Tanf military base in Syria, one of two U.S. bases attacked in the country on October 26, 2023, resulting in minor injuries for 21 servicemembers.
The White House said they were still gathering information about the strike, but confirmed it was carried out by a “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.”
In a statement released on Sunday, President Biden called the attacks “despicable and wholly unjust” and promised to hold the perpetrators responsible.
Although dozens of U.S. troops have been injured in attacks on bases in the Middle East since the Israel-Gaza war broke out in October, Sunday’s attack marks the first time Americans have been killed in one of these assaults.
Key Background
The U.S. maintains a significant troop presence in the Middle East, with about 2,500 troops located in Iraq and 900 in Syria left in place as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the U.S.’s campaign against the Islamic State in the region. Jordan remains a key U.S. ally in the region, and also hosts about 3,000 American troops, according to a White House estimate from June 2023. Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in October, troop positions have come under attack by missile and drone strikes in Iraqi Kurdistan, Baghdad and eastern Syria. Additionally, the U.S. Navy has shot down dozens of drones and missiles launched by Houthi militants in Yemen, who began targeting Israel-linked shipping vessels after the war broke out. The Navy’s presence near Yemen is part of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational task force designed to protect Red Sea shipping lanes from these attacks
Contra
Although the Biden administration promised to “hold all those responsible to account,” Republicans in the Senate immediately criticized the administration and called for a harsher military response against Iran. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a longtime critic of Iran, said the Biden administration’s policy of air strikes against Iranian proxy groups has so far failed. “[Defense]
Secretary [Lloyd] Austin’s efforts to deter aggression against our forces in the region has failed miserably. I’ve long since lost confidence in the Biden national security team to deter Iran,” Graham said in a press release. “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard.” In a statement, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said the “appeasement of Iran must end. It’s time for clear and decisive action, and Iran must be held accountable for the malign activities of its proxies.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) was much more succinct in a post on X: “Target Tehran.” Cornyn later clarified in another post that he specifically meant to target the Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Quds Force, both branches of Iran’s military.Tangent
The troops at Tower 22 were the first U.S. servicemembers killed in a direct attack in the widening conflict across the Middle East. However, they were not the first Americans to die during military operations since the Israel-Gaza war began in October. On October 19, 2023, a U.S. civilian contractor at the Ain al-Assad base in Syria died from cardiac arrest while sheltering in place during a false alarm, Reuters reported. In January, two Navy SEALS were reported missing while searching for Iranian weapons off the coast of Somalia, which authorities believed were bound for Houthi militants in Yemen. The search for the missing SEALs was called off ten days later.