US attacks targets in Iraq and Syria

Ever since we started posting these blogs in 2012, it has been highlighted that the United States initiates proxy wars, mainly to sell its arms. After the commencement of killing of Gazans by Israel, also supported by the Biden administration, the US hegemony in the Middle East seems to be ending, but the super power remains adamant at keeping its military complexes operating at full capacities.

It was anticipated that sooner than later the US, in the name of retaliations, would start attacking sites in Iraq and Syria, alleging that these belong to Iran-supported militants.

On February 01, we had posted a blog titled, “Are United States and Iran already at war?” Today, Reuters has reported that the US military launched airstrikes on Friday in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets, spanning seven locations, four in Syria and three in Iraq, in retaliation for last weekend's attack in Jordan that killed three US troops.

The strikes targeted the Quds Force - the foreign espionage and paramilitary arm of the IRGC that heavily influences its allied militia across the Middle East, from Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen to Syria.

US Lieutenant General Douglas Sims, the director of the Joint Staff, said the attacks appeared to be successful, triggering large secondary explosions as the bombs hit militant weaponry, though it was not clear if any militants were killed.

The strikes, which included the use of long-range B-1 bombers flown from the US, are the first in a multi-tiered response by President Joe Biden's administration, and more US military operations are expected in the coming days.

While the US strikes did not target sites inside Iran, they signal a further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East from Israel's more than three-month-old war with Hamas in Gaza.

The US military said in a statement that the strikes hit targets including command and control centers, rockets, missiles and drone storage facilities, as well as logistics and munition supply chain facilities.

Syrian state media said on Friday that an American aggression on sites in its desert areas and at the Syrian-Iraqi border resulted in a number of casualties and injuries.

The Iraqi military said the strikes were in the Iraqi border area and warned they could ignite instability in the region.

"These airstrikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, and pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences," Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement.

The United States has assessed that the drone that killed the three soldiers and wounded more than 40 other people was made by Iran.

"Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing," Biden said in a statement. Earlier on Friday, Biden and Pentagon leaders had attended the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware as the remains of the three soldiers were returned.

Pentagon said it does not want war with Iran and does not believe Tehran wants war either, even as Republican pressure has increased on Biden to deal a blow directly.

The top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, criticized Biden for failing to impose a high enough cost on Iran, and taking too long to respond.

Before the retaliatory strikes on Friday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that Iran would not start a war but would respond strongly to anyone who tried to bully it.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration had not communicated with Iran since the Jordan attack.

Baghdad and Washington, meanwhile, have agreed to set up a committee to start talks on the future of the US-led military coalition in Iraq, with the aim of setting a timetable for a phased withdrawal of troops and the end of the US-led coalition against Islamic State.