US does not want to get dragged into another ME war: Congressman

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: MSNBC
5 Aug 2024 00:49
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Democratic Representative Seth Moulton tells MSNBC that Washington's focus right now needs to be preventing a war with China in the Pacific.

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Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., questions witnesses during a hearing of a special House committee dedicated to countering China, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, February 28, 2023, in Washington. (AP)

"Israel" has a right to "defend itself", but this is an issue that could well involve the United States, commented Democratic Representative Seth Moulton, a member of the US House Armed Services Committee, on the anticipated Iranian and Lebanese response to the Israeli assassinations of Resistance leaders.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed that the Lebanese group's response to the Israeli assassination of top commander Sayyed Fouad Shokor is "inevitable". Similarly, Iranian officials have made it clear that "Israel's" assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran will not go unanswered.

"We don't know exactly what's going to happen," the Congressman told MSNBC’s Alex Witt, "And we do not want to get dragged into another war in the Middle East."

"That's why we have a stake in exactly what Israel does do to defend itself," he added.

Asked whether the US is concerned about a major escalation, Moulton explained that Hezbollah possesses "thousands and thousands of rockets, many times what we've seen in Gaza, many times what we saw even Iran shoot at Israel in its unprecedented attack [in mid-April]."

He warned that if this was accompanied by escalation with Iran, "it could be enough missiles and drones to simply overwhelm the Israeli defense systems," even with the presence of US assistance.

Moulton considered that Washington's focus right now needs to be preventing a war with China in the Pacific and not getting dragged into another major war in the Middle East.

Responding to a question about redlines that would entail a US military involvement, the Democratic representative pointed out that in such a complex situation with multiple actors acting against "Israel", "you don't want to draw specific red lines," yet asserting that "everyone in the Middle East needs to understand is that the US means business when it's sending more forces in the region."