President Joe Biden goes to war

After a ceremony Friday for three American soldiers — Army Sgt. William J. Rivers, Spec. Kennedy L. Sanders and Spec. Breonna A. Moffett — killed in Jordan, President Joe Biden said that a military operation would be undertaken in response “at times and places of our choosing.”

Biden chose to launch a broad attack against Iran’s military and affiliated militias in Iraq and Syria later that day, delivering a blow to armed groups Washington has blamed for a toxic surge of violence across the Middle East.

“Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing,” said Biden. “Let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”

U.S. Central Command said that American forces, using long-range bombers flown from the United States and other aircraft, hit more than 85 targets affiliated with the Quds Force, a powerful unit of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC), and local militias it supports. Among them were command centers, intelligence sites, and drone storage sites.

U.S. military forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft including long-range bombers flying from the United States.

The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions.

The facilities that were struck included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicle storage, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors who facilitated attacks against the U.S. and its allies.

The strikes, which began at 4 p.m. Washington time on Friday, are an attempt to inflict greater damage on Iran and its proxies than they suffered in previous retaliatory actions carried out by U.S. forces in recent months, which thus far have failed to end the violence.

The operation appeared to mark the opening of what officials have said would be a sustained effort aimed at targets close to and within Iran, which the administration has blamed for spiraling bloodshed following the start of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, including the drone attack Sunday that killed three U.S. service members and injured dozens more at a remote outpost in Jordan.

The January 28 drone attack that killed three U.S. troops near the Jordan-Syria border follows more than one hundred attacks by Iran-backed militias against U.S. forces since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

“This is the start of our response,” said “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III. “The President has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing. We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else, but the President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces. We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our forces, and our interests.”

“The Department of Defense is in the early stages of battle damage assessment, but we believe that the strikes were successful,” said John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, during a briefing following the strikes.

Army Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II, director of operations for the Joint Staff, said today’s strikes employed multiple aircraft, including B-1 Lancers that flew from bases in the U.S.

“This has been in the planning since we were asked to look at it,” Sims said, adding that weather played a factor in the timing of the strikes.

“Good weather presented itself today and, as a result, this took place,” he said.

The US has also imposed sanctions on six officials in Iran’s powerful IRGC who it says are responsible for the cyber-attacks on American water plants late last year.

It was considered a low-level hacking attempt, but federal officials are concerned that these attacks are exposing how vulnerable America’s water systems are.

“The deliberate targeting of critical infrastructure by Iranian cyber actors is an unconscionable and dangerous act,” said Brian Nelson, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, in the announcement. The sanctioned individuals are part of the IRGC’s Cyber-Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC), and include Hamid Reza Lashgarian, the head of the cyber organization, and also a commander in the IRGC-Quds Force.

“No one expects to be in the crosshairs of a war in the Middle East, but in this day and age, cyber-attacks and cyber-warfare can occur anywhere – and everyone has to be prepared,” said Congressman Chris Deluzio.

“Iranian cyber actors continue to mature and invest in their capabilities. China is the pacing threat that the US faces in cyberspace; there is malicious Russian activity, but North Korea and Iran continue to invest in their capabilities,” said Eric Goldstein, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency’s executive assistant director for cyber-security.

“The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world,” said Biden.

“If we ‘do not seek conflict,’ then let’s get the troops out of there,” said Robert F. Kennedy Jr in response to Biden. “They are not welcome. They are not needed. They are indefensible targets for anyone in the region who wants to provoke a conflict. Get them out!”

American forces are now engaging in combat against Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, at locations in Iraq and Syria occupied by Iranian-backed militias and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, and possibly in Africa but the US is engaged in far fewer conflicts than it has been in recent years.

The U.S. dropped 26,171 bombs on seven countries in 2016, according to an analysis by the Council of Foreign Relations.

At least 1,370 weapons were released in 2021, 2,819 in 2020, 12,152 in 2019, 16,075 in 2018, and 43,938 in 2017, according to military sources.

“The U.S. government and political establishment have been remarkably successful at keeping the American public in the dark about the horrific consequences of these long-term campaigns of mass destruction, allowing them to maintain the illusion of U.S. militarism as a force for good in the world in their domestic political rhetoric,” said Medea Benjamin, founder of the peace advocating Code Pink.

“Within one week, Biden has bombed Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Somalia and given Israel the bombs to continue to flatten Gaza,”said Anthony Zenkus.

The US attacks have been condemned by officials in Iraq; Tehran has not commented officially yet, according to Al Jazeera’s correspondent in the Iranian capital.

Iran warned it will respond forcefully to any attack, while both Tehran and Ankara arrested several people suspected of being Mossad agents.
At least 27,131 Palestinians have been killed, and 66,287 wounded in Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza in retaliation for the October 7 Hamas attack.