Three US troops killed and 34 injured in drone attack in Jordan
Three US troops killed and 34 injured in drone attack in Jordan
A drone has struck a tent of sleeping troops in Jordan, killing US troops in the Middle East for the first time since the war in Gaza began. The US has blamed Iran-backed militant groups, but is yet to identify who specifically they believe is responsible.
A drone has struck a tent of sleeping troops in Jordan, killing US troops in the Middle East for the first time since the war in Gaza began. The US has blamed Iran-backed militant groups, but is yet to identify who specifically they believe is responsible.
Three American troops have been killed and 34 injured in a drone attack in Jordan.
Those killed in the attack were sleeping in a tent at a place called Tower 22 in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border.
US President Joe Biden said the attack was carried out by "radical Iran-backed militant groups" in Syria and Iraq.
Iran has jumped the shark with their level of fucking around.
Oh shit. Hate to be working for a drone factory.
If, on the other hand, we were to immediately launch an all-out and coordinated attack on all their air fields and missile bases, we'd stand a damn good chance of catching them with their pants down. Hell, we've got a five-to-one missile superiority as it is. We could easily assign three missiles to every target and still have a very effective reserve force for any other contingencies.
Now, six, an unofficial study which we undertook of this eventuality indicated that we would destroy ninety percent of their nuclear capabilities. We would, therefore, prevail and suffer only modest and acceptable civilian casualties from their remaining force, which would be badly damaged and uncoordinated."
- General Buck Turgidson
While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.
That seems like a reasonable guess, but they shouldn’t be presenting it as knowledge if they haven’t yet identified the attackers.
Biden seems to be making a habit of making statements that contradict US intelligence and then having to backpedal so we'll see.
This being the most high profile example of Biden doing this: https://theintercept.com/2023/10/31/gaza-death-palestine-health-ministry/
The Jordon equivalent of the CIA is very good. I'd be a little scared of doing this sort of thing on their ground.
good vs bad narrative works exceedingly well. they ain't saying they know it's Iran. They saying Iran it's the bad guy. and in USA this is much more than sufficient.
It's hard to make much analysis without knowing the exact culprit, but I think it's certain to say they made a very bad choice.
Iran has been doing this a while on the theory they can keep the escalation controlled. Up until now though they've gotten lucky with not killing any US soldiers. From a domestic political situation the Biden administration will probably need to retaliate. Hopefully this won't get too much further out of hand.
What were they doing in Jordan?
The US and Jordan have been allies for decades, and the US has military bases in allies around the world.
This particular base is located near Syria, so it might be because of the Syrian civil war.
Also, fun fact - the king of Jordan appeared as an extra on American TV. Specifically, on Star Trek Voyager.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Those killed in the attack were sleeping in a tent at a place called Tower 22 in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border.
"While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq," he said in a statement.
It's the first time US troops have been killed in the region since war began in Gaza, with Mr Biden adding the attack happened on Saturday night.
"We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism," Mr Biden continued, referring to the "patriots" who died in the attack.
The US has long used Jordan - which neighbours Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, Saudi Arabia and Syria - as a basing point, with about 3,000 troops typically stationed there.
While the US has maintained it is not at war in the region, it has - along with the UK - made strikes against targets of Yemen's Houthi groups, which have been attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
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Poking the bear won't turn out well for Iran.
Ask Saddam Hussein.
Ask Muammar Gaddafi.Because those wars went so well. Iran has a population of almost 90 million compared to Iraq’s 2003 population of 27 million or so and Libya’s was like 6 million before that war. And those only created more instability. There’s not usually a winner in a war in the modern era.
I’m an American and, emotionally, I obviously get the desire to retaliate for the attacks but a real war with Iran would be catastrophic. It would probably weaken America in the long run. As bad as these tit-for-tat strikes are, we’re better off supporting Iranian protesters than taking aggressive military action.
The Saudi and UAE oil fields would be set alight overnight.
People don't seem to realise that the various Iran supported militias throughout the Middle East have been holding back.
It has been low level skirmishes on the Lebanon border with Israel, the Houthi blockade of Israeli shipping and drone attacks throughout the middle east with US retaliation strikes.
This would escalate very quickly and the damage to the world economy, America and its allies would be immense.
Not saying Iran and their allies wouldn't feel any pain but it's a lose / lose for everyone.
Yep between the mountainous terrain and Iran's advanced missile program it'd be a disaster. If a president got involved in a war like that, the opposition party might end up with 70 senate seats instead of the 60 the dems got after the Iraq war fell apart.
ETA: the other problem is that Iran has a much, much stronger central government than Iraq or Libya did in terms of control over the population.
