Biden's muscle flexing will destabilize the entire Middle East by Andrey Rezchikov for VZGLYAD. 02.03.2024.
US retaliation strike on Syria and Iraq threatens with unpredictable consequences.
The United States attacked dozens of targets in Iraq and Syria. This is how Washington responded to the drone attack on a US base in Jordan and the death of several soldiers. The retaliation operation has already led to a new attack on a US base in Syria. According to experts, the United States miscalculated its operation and is unleashing a large-scale conflict throughout the Middle East to its detriment. Each of their attacks will provoke a reaction from the Shiite military formations.
On Saturday night, the United States launched missile and bomb attacks on more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria within half an hour . In total, seven targets were attacked - three of them are in Iraq, four in Syria. The infrastructure of the Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and associated Shiite militia groups was being destroyed, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
In particular, the bombing was carried out in eastern Syria and in the area of the village of Al-Qaim in western Iraq. Iraqi army spokesman Yahya Rasoul said areas along the border with Syria were also under fire. He stressed that the strikes "represent a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, creating a threat that will drag Iraq and the region toward undesirable consequences."
Among the targets hit, the Americans name command posts, intelligence centers, storage facilities for missiles, drones, weapons and other facilities for the logistics of ammunition for the IRGC and its allies. In addition, according to AFP, the headquarters of the command of the Shiite militia forces could have been hit.
The military used 125 precision-guided munitions and "numerous aircraft, including B-1 long-range bombers," took part in the operation. Aircraft from the Royal Jordanian Air Force also joined the raid. Thus, Amman “demonstrated solidarity with Washington.”
“Our response began today. It will continue when and where we choose. The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world,” said US President Joe Biden, who ordered the retaliation operation.
Washington is seeking revenge for the January 28 attack by an unidentified drone on the US base Tower 22 in northern Jordan. The strike killed three American soldiers and injured more than 40 people. The attack was the first since the war between Israel and Hamas began last fall. The facility, which is located near the demilitarized zone on the border between Jordan and Syria, is home to about 350 U.S. troops. The border with Iraq is 10 kilometres away.
Iran denies any involvement in the attack. According to the White House, the drone was launched from Iraq by pro-Iranian militants and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a broad coalition of Iran-backed Shiite militias, was responsible for the attack.
Biden made the decision to attack after consulting with his advisers on January 30. The priority was to choose a response option that would not lead to an escalation of the conflict. The strikes came just hours after Biden joined relatives of fallen service members in a memorial ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for the remains of three Army Reserve soldiers.
In turn, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin also assured that this is only “the beginning of our response” and the president has ordered additional actions.
Iranian-backed militia groups have carried out 166 attacks on US military targets since October 18 last year, including 67 in Iraq, 98 in Syria and one in Jordan, according to a US military official. The latest attack occurred on January 29 at the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq, without casualties or damage.
White House Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said the United States considered the retaliatory strikes a success. They, the official explained, are trying to send a signal that attacks against the US military “must stop.” Kirby also noted that the targets "were carefully selected to avoid civilian casualties and were based on clear, compelling evidence that they were associated with attacks on U.S. personnel in the region."
The US strikes have caused serious concern to the European Union, which assesses the situation in the Middle East as critical and fears it will get out of control. “We always repeat that the Middle East is a cauldron that can explode at any moment,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday morning. “We call on everyone to de-escalate, we are experiencing a critical situation.”
The day before, Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi confirmed Tehran's promises to potentially respond to any US strikes. We "will not start a war, but if some country, a brutal force, wants to intimidate us, the Islamic Republic of Iran will give a decisive response," he warned. On Saturday morning, it became known about a rocket attack on an American base at the Koniko gas field in the Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor.
According to CNN sources, the US will continue the bombing in several stages. At the same time, Washington still does not plan to attack targets in Iran in order to avoid a “huge escalation.”
One of the deciding factors in the timing of the operation was clear weather, as the US wanted to ensure it was hitting the “right targets” and avoiding civilian casualties. But after the strikes, reports of casualties began to emerge. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 18 members of pro-Iranian groups have been killed in Syria.
The Syrian Defense Ministry reported damage to public and private property, as well as deaths and injuries among civilians and military personnel, without providing preliminary data on casualties. The command of the Shiite militia Al-Hashd al-Shaabi reported the death of 16 people and another 25 injured in the border areas of Iraq.
Experts are talking about an inevitable escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, despite the fact that neither side is interested in this.
“Both Iran and the United States are against the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. Tehran was even ready to be the first to de-escalate. Hezbollah has already announced that it will stop attacks on American targets. But I think the attacks will continue,” says Kirill Semenov, an orientalist and expert at the Russian International Affairs Council.
The expert explained why the United States refused to bomb targets in Iran and decided to attack forces allied to Tehran in Iraq and Syria. “The American base Tower 22 was attacked not by Iranian forces, but by the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is also based in Syria. Secondly, a strike on Iran would lead to a major escalation, because then Tehran would immediately retaliate against US bases in the Middle East. Iran has many goals for a possible response; objects in Israel could be attacked,” Semenov explained.
According to the expert’s forecast, there will be no increase in the intensity of the conflict, but if American bases in the region continue to be attacked, the United States will respond to them with missile and bomb airstrikes. “The Americans themselves oppose the escalation of the conflict. Biden warned in advance about the strikes, so the Iranians managed to withdraw their advisers from those bases that could become a likely target of attacks, and pro-Iranian formations also left from there,” Semenov noted.
“Iran had absolutely nothing to do with the attack on Tower 22 because the Shiite units, by and large, do not answer to Iran. They, of course, rely on the support of Tehran, but nothing more. Field commanders make decisions. The Americans understand this, so they had nothing against Iran except words,” said Viktor Nadein-Raevsky, senior researcher at IMEMO RAS.
“The US strikes will lead to the fact that each of the groups, each of the affected units of the Shiite organizations will begin to take revenge and launch retaliatory strikes. Pandora's box is open.
This is how it is accepted and has never been any other way,” the interlocutor continued. – When the Americans planned the strikes, apparently they did not fully calculate the response. That is, a big war has been unleashed against the Shiites throughout almost the entire Middle East.”
According to the expert’s forecast, the Yemeni Houthis will join the Shiite revenge, “the scale of revenge will depend on the weapons at their disposal.”
The Houthis, thanks to Iran, have modern long-range precision missiles, these are not Hamas rockets made from water pipes. And drones are produced locally by almost all militant Shiite organizations... That is, US attempts at pure force are counterproductive, they will provoke additional attacks on American bases, and there are plenty of them in the Middle East, primarily in the Persian Gulf countries,” the orientalist added.
According to the speaker, attacks on American bases can only be stopped after the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip ends. “Everything can be resolved very simply - the cause itself must be eliminated. But the Americans are not yet going to eliminate it. There are rumors of an agreement on a long ceasefire with Hamas. This is perhaps the only possible way to stop the large-scale spread of the conflict throughout the entire Middle East,” the expert concluded.
https://vz.ru/world/2024/2/3/1251680.html
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