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US response to Jordan base operation will be 'multi-tiered': Politico

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Politico
30 Jan 2024 13:46
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Politico notes that US strikes against Resistance groups, namely the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have failed to deter them.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby speaks at a press briefing at the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024 (AP)

A recent Politico report attends to the post-strike confusion and consequent warmongering in the US bureaucracy following the Resistance operation that targeted the US military base in Jordan. Notably, the report highlights that the Biden administration's response will be multi-tiered.

Politico deems it likely that the US retaliation will not be a "massive show of force" but would rather manifest as "several rounds of action."

“Actions may be tiered. We may see several rounds of action,” an anonymous official in the Biden administration told NatSec Daily earlier.

Biden convened with the White House Situation Room, which included National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Principal Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer, Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, and National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East Brett McGurk to discuss the response after three soldiers were killed in a military base in Jordan as part of regional efforts to pressure the US and "Israel" to stop the genocide in Gaza.

Response to the Resistance, and possibly the Republic

Politico notes that US strikes against Resistance groups, namely the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have failed to deter them. The Resistance groups in Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon have remained committed to building up pressure on "Israel" and the US to concede to a ceasefire in Gaza despite the grave casualties the respective groups have been subjected to.

The Politico report remarks that the US aggression "[has] yet to deter these groups from targeting American forces, and it’s increasingly looking like a wider war will break out, if it hasn’t already."

Democrat Senators seem to warmonger against Resistance groups, in this case against the Islamic Resistance in Iraq specifically. Republican Senators, on the other hand, seem to warmonger against Iran.

Both Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin (Democrat) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (Democrat) called for “deliberate and proportional” responses, while Senate Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Roger Wicker (Republican) added that the US must strike “directly against Iranian targets and its leadership.” Similarly, Senator Tom Cotton (Republican) said, as quoted by Politico, “The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East."

“The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran’s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East," said Senator Tom Cotton (Republican).

Furthermore, General Joseph Votel, who served as head of US Central Command from 2016 to 2019 (during Trump's administration), told Politico in an exclusive interview that Biden should send an “unambiguous” message that the US holds Iran responsible. Washington should consider striking assets of value to Iran, he said, such as leaders of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps and al-Quds Force, or sites associated with the IRGC.

"A US strike on Iranian soil shouldn’t be off the table” but is only one of the options that should be considered, he said. “Iran, I think, is responsible for this … Iran is always trying to push the limits as far as they can go.”

He argued that the only way to protect US troops in the region is by launching an attack against Iran; otherwise, they must reassess troop deployments in the region and pressure "Israel" into a ceasefire in Gaza because that is what has been causing the uptick in Resistance operations recently.

Biden, Congress, and elections

Despite John Kirby's assurances that the election doesn't influence how the US will respond, there seems to be some evidence that the US bureaucracy is deciding on the type and scale of attacks with the 2024 elections in foresight.

Congress has already registered the Resistance operation against the Jordan military base as being a failure of the Biden administration. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is trying to save face by responding adequately so as not to seem weak in front of Congress and the voters, which the Republicans seem to try to abuse by pushing Biden toward greater involvement in the region to consequently sustain greater losses, which would stifle his aspirations for re-election.

Representatives in the House and Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committees have requested briefings from the administration about the attack on the Jordan base.

Congress members are focused on understanding whether the US had any intelligence that warned of such an attack, the confusion that appears to have surrounded the drone when it was approaching Tower 22, and whether the administration is considering building up the US air defense systems in the region.

Biden “left our troops as sitting ducks,” Senator Tom Cotton (Republican) said in a statement who also then called on the Biden administration to launch an attack directly at Iran.

NSC spokesperson John Kirby told reporters today that the election doesn’t factor into how the US will respond.

Concluding the report, Politico notes that if the Biden administration ramps up attacks on Resistance groups or Iran, it’s unclear what the end game would be as much as it’s unclear exactly when and what the response would be.