WASHINGTON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - More than a month after a deadly drone strike in Jordan killed three U.S. soldiers, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sought to reassure the U.S. military that the military is capable of fending off attacks by Iranian-backed militants.
In an unpublished speech to the sailors aboard the USS Gerald R. Ford on Dec. 20, Austin said the number one reason the militants failed to get to this point was that "they're not very good at doing their own thing."
Every day, Iranians shoot at our troops in Iraq and Syria. They don't work at all for two reasons: first, they're not very good at what they do," Austin told reporters. "Second, we've done a lot to make sure we have enough troops to protect. Eventually, it is known that they may one day be lucky enough to inflict damage on one of our troops. But we'll be vigilant to make sure that doesn't happen. ”
In the wake of the drone attack, Joe Biden vowed to do everything to protect the U.S. military from the escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East, with Iranian-aligned militants offering U.S. troops in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Jordan, among other places. The Red Sea coast of Yemen.
But current and former U.S.** told Reuters that periodic attacks by militants may be inevitable given the sheer number of drones, rockets and missiles fired at U.S. forces and the fact that base defenses are unlikely to be fully effective in 100% of cases.
Experts also warn against underestimating Iranian-backed militants, even if most of their attacks fail.
Charles Lister of the Washington-based Middle East Institute recalls the situation when former Barack Obama described ISIS as a junior varsity in 2014, when the group was gathering strength.
It's naïve to say Obama-esque advice 'okay, they're just a joint venture team,' and we can take the blow with a smile and know that nothing serious has happened," Liszt said. "These groups have carried out sophisticated transnational attacks, and they have a very lethal history against the U.S. ** team. ”
Nevertheless, American commanders have a long history of showing a brave side in front of their troops. Austin, a retired four-star general who served in Iraq, was attacked himself.
Asked for comment, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Austin was outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Jordanian soldiers and that "there is nothing more important than protecting our troops and caring for our people."
Tragedy, but predictable
Tensions in the Middle East have risen since the start of the Israeli-Hamas war in October, with more than 168 attacks by U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria and Jordan as of Feb. 7. This resulted in 143 U.S. ** injuries, two of them seriously and nine seriously.
The worst attack occurred on January 28, when a drone crashed into a U.S. base called Tower 22 on the Jordanian-Syrian border, killing Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, expert JFK Laden Sanders, and expert Brenna Alexandria Moffett.
A senior U.S. military officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, called the attack "tragic, unfortunate — but predictable."
"Because that's the nature of fighting." This is not a sanitized environment where you can achieve perfection in protecting yourself."
Gen. Daniel Hokanson, the head of the U.S. National Guard stationed at Tower 22, told reporters Thursday that the military is working to ensure that troops have a defensive capability to reduce risk.
It's a shame that no system is 100% successful at anything," Hokanson said.
Not a complicated blow
Although the U.S. investigation continues, the U.S. told Reuters that there are several factors that could contribute to the failure of U.S. defenses at remote bases in Jordan.
The most notable, they say, is the low-altitude flight of the drone as it approaches Tower 22.
But on Sunday morning, the militants did not appear to have taken any particularly sophisticated actions, such as deliberately timing the drone's approach to the arrival of the U.S. drone in order to confuse the U.S. defense system, they said.
Instead, some U.S.** have come to the conclusion that the success of the January 28 attack depends on probability – throwing enough ammunition at a well-defended target, and some will eventually succeed.
The Pentagon said the militant attack had a "footprint" of Iraq-based Allah in Qatapu, leading to a wave of retaliatory attacks by the United States in Iraq and Syria linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the militias it supports. Among them was a drone strike in Baghdad on Wednesday that killed a commander of Allah in Qatapu.
Pentagon spokesman Ryder told Reuters that the U.S. side continues to "take the necessary steps to protect our forces serving in danger and constantly reassess our force protection measures." He did not provide details about any adjustments to US defenses, citing operational security.
Critics of Biden's approach warn that retaliatory attacks have not put enough pressure on Tehran, which supports these groups and that some current and former leaders believe that Tehran may instruct them to stop. Some Republicans in Congress had pushed for U.S. strikes against Iranian forces, including on Iranian soil, but Biden resisted them for fear of drawing Iran directly into the wider war.
Iran can stop these attacks if they want to," the former U.S. said.
However, the ** added: "Why are they doing this? They weren't hurt by our reactions. ”