The Pentagon calls the US base in Jordan, Tower 22, a “logistics support base” - however, in reality, the area in which three US troops were killed last month is more than what it seems. 

The Intercept reported that Tower 22 is secretly a drone base for long-range surveillance of whom the US perceives as "insurgents" in neighboring Syria and Iraq and to conduct airstrikes, according to two US military sources, while it also represents a staging facility for special operations forces and is a medevac helicopter home base.

Talking to The Intercept, an Air Force airman, whose unit was recently stationed at the base, said, “To call Tower 22 a logistics support base is complete bullshit,” as logistics was only a minor part - or a disguise - to merely deliver food and fuel to the nearby al-Tanf base.

“The main purpose of Tower 22 is to operate drones to spy on insurgents in Iraq and Syria, for targeting purposes,” the airman added, noting, “The main objective I witnessed was taking out targets.”

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The base was known, as per the anonymous airman, for providing targeting intel to other Air Force assets in Jordan, such as Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, to conduct airstrikes on said targets.

One story, citing unnamed officials, says that the drone attack that killed the three troops was able to enter Tower 22 after being mistakenly identified as a friendly drone returning to the base. The Intercept later discovered that the base did not have adequate air defense.

A report by Politico two weeks ago detailed how the drone managed to evade detection by trailing behind a US drone that was returning to the base in Jordan at the same time. 

'This is not what it looks like'

Interviews conducted with defense sources and experts paint a clear image of Tower 22's real purpose to support hostilities with what the US calls "Iran-backed groups", but the Defense Department is still adamant that this is part of its war on ISIS. 

US forces continue to exist in Syria under the basis of Operation Inherent Resolve, the name which the Pentagon selected for the campaign against ISIS that began in 2014, but experts reveal that the alleged "counter-ISIS" mission the US claims to be conducting is not the main focus.

Brian Finucane, a former State Department legal advisor and now with the think-tank International Crisis Group which works to prevent and resolve wars, said, “Whatever they’re doing there, there’s very little evidence that it’s counter-ISIS.”

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It is worth noting that ISIS, as former President Donald Trump said in 2018, is the main reason why they should be there, as he said: “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there,” later announcing that he would withdraw US troops from the region.

However, Finucane explains that Trump was overpowered by hawks like national security advisor at the time, John Bolton, who was trying his best to keep troops there with a new target in mind: Iran.

Even though Tower 22 may have provided logistics like food and fuel for training at al-Tanf, a Pentagon inspector general report last year discovered “no kinetic engagements,” or combat incidents, by coalition forces at al-Tanf in any way present, knowing that the lack of combat at the larger base shows a lesser role for both bases in the fight against ISIS.

“If Tanf doesn’t have a counter-ISIS function, it’s hard to see how a support facility for Tanf does,” Finucane said.

This particular operation on Tower 22 sparked a wave of outrage in the US, with some high-ranking officials calling on US President Joe Biden to nuke Iran. 

Biden has blamed "radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq," referring to the Resistance in Iraq which announced earlier this month that they would escalate their attacks after the US conducted several raids in Iraq and assassinated a military official in central Baghdad.

The US President also reaffirmed that the US forces are now "still gathering the facts of this attack," stressing, "We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism. And have no doubt -- we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing."

Oil, power and cash

The Intercept previously reported that the group that claimed responsibility for the Tower 22 attack that killed three troops stated that it was due to US support for "Israel's" genocide in Gaza. 

With that, the White House maintains that conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen are all distinct from one another and happen to be emerging coincidentally, contradicting evidence indicating that US support for "Israel" in the Gaza genocide has contributed to regional instability and violence.

Finucane clarifies that “the counter-ISIS mission is the only legal basis there is for the U.S. to be there... There’s no legal basis to have U.S. troops in Syria to be countering Iran.”

The US argues that its presence in the region - be it in Jordan, Iraq, or Syria - is for "defense purposes" against groups like ISIS, but it remains clear that their presence is only a means to an end - oil, money, and hegemony. 

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These airbases have reportedly been used to violate the sovereignty of Iraq and Syria. In the Syrian Arab Republic, the US military is officially considered an occupying force, while the government in Iraq is working on ending a previously agreed mandate with the US.

The US can either deepen its involvement in Middle Eastern conflicts or recognize the futility of repeating past mistakes. To avoid new conflicts, Washington must reject escalation, cease fueling the Gaza war, and end its unwanted military presence in the region.