Anti-war activists respond to the U.S. military strikes in Iraq and Syria

Anti-war activists are responding to the U.S. military strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria — and ongoing strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen who’ve been targeting ships in the Red Sea for months — which came after President Joe Biden had promised to respond to the drone attack that killed three American soldiers at a remote base in Jordan.

With the retaliation across a wide geographical area against groups that have been attacking U.S. and Israeli interests in solidarity with Palestinians, whose death toll has been mounting since Hamas provoked an invasion of the Gaza Strip by launching a terror strike on October 7, Western powers seem to be blindly falling into a trap laid by Iran’s affiliates.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a militia group backed by Iran, claimed responsibility Monday for a drone strike against a base in eastern Syria used by U.S. troops that killed six US-allied Kurdish fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The attack, which caused no American casualties, appeared to be the first significant response from what the U.S. calls Iran’s proxy groups to U.S. airstrikes against the militias in the region.

“We are monitoring reports of U.S. military strikes against a number of targets across Iraq and Syria,” said Win Without War’s President Stephen Miles. “While these strikes, and likely additional rounds, have been telegraphed by the Biden administration, we are deeply concerned about this dangerous escalation and reiterate our call for the President to dramatically change course.”

On Feb. 4, at approximately 4 a.m. local time, U.S. Central Command forces conducted a strike against a Houthi anti-ship cruise missile that was prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea.

On Feb. 4, at around 5:30 a.m. local time, U.S. Central Command forces conducted another strike against a Houthi land attack cruise missile. Beginning at 10:30 a.m. U.S. forces struck four anti-ship cruise missiles, all of which were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea.

U.S. forces identified the missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and determined they presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region.

The U.S. and the U.K. launched strikes against 36 Houthi targets across 13 locations in Yemen late Saturday, targeting missile launch and radar systems in the large portion of Yemen controlled by the Shiite Muslim rebels in response to continuing attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Two days earlier, strikes were carried out by U.S. Central Command forces against more than 85 targets at seven facilities in Iraq and Syria used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.

Those strikes happened just hours after Biden attended the transfer in Dover, Delaware, of the remains of the first three American soldiers killed in last weekend’s attack — Army Sgts. William J. Rivers, Kennedy L. Sanders and Breonna A. Moffett.

National security officials said the facilities targeted in today’s strikes were carefully selected to avoid civilian casualties and were based on clear evidence that they were connected to attacks on U.S. personnel.

“While these strikes come in response to the recent tragic loss of three U.S. service members, there is little reason to believe that they will be any more successful at halting the growing spread of violence across the Middle East than multiple previous rounds of similar U.S. bombing,” said Miles. “Instead, the President should do everything in his power to immediately secure a ceasefire in Gaza, the fire at the core of this regional inferno, while leading robust, regional diplomacy aimed at a genuine de-escalation of violence. More war will only put U.S. forces and people in the region at greater risk than they already are.”

“Finally, we remain concerned about the clear lack of appropriate legal authorization for this prolonged military engagement,” said Miles. “While the President always retains the constitutional right to engage in self-defense, planned retaliation and prolonged bombing campaigns are not self-defense.”

“These are not simply philosophical debates but fundamental constitutional checks and balances designed to prevent us from slipping into exactly the kind of full-scale regional war we are racing dangerously towards,” said Miles. “It’s long past time to recognize we cannot bomb our way to peace and choose a different path.”

Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its terror attack on Israel, there have been more than 150 rocket, missile, and drone attacks on US forces in the Middle East, but the strike in Jordan was the first to kill a US soldier.