Political pressure builds on Biden to strike Iran<\/h2>\nThe killing of three US troops is piling political pressure on Biden to deal a blow directly against Iran, a move he\u2019s been reluctant to do out of fear of igniting a broader war.<\/p>\n
Biden\u2019s response options could range anywhere from targeting Iranian forces outside to even inside Iran, or opting for a more cautious retaliatory attack solely against militants responsible, experts say.<\/p>\n
American forces in the Middle East have been attacked more than 150 times in Iraq, Syria, Jordan and off the coast of Yemen since the Gaza conflict erupted in October.<\/p>\n
But until Sunday\u2019s attack on a remote outpost known as Tower 22 near Jordan\u2019s northeastern border with Syria, the strikes had not killed US troops nor wounded so many.<\/p>\n
Republicans accused Biden of letting American forces become sitting ducks, waiting for the day when a drone or missile would evade base defenses. They say that day came on Sunday, when a single one-way attack drone struck near base barracks early in the morning.<\/p>\n
In response, they say Biden must strike Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe left our troops as sitting ducks,\u201d said Republican US Senator Tom Cotton.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran\u2019s terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The Republican who leads the US military oversight committee in the House of Representatives, Representative Mike Rogers, also called for action against Tehran.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s long past time for President Biden to finally hold the terrorist Iranian regime and their extremist proxies accountable for the attacks they\u2019ve carried out,\u201d Rogers said.<\/p>\n
Former US president Donald Trump, who hopes to face off against Biden in this year\u2019s presidential election, portrayed the attack as a \u201cconsequence of Joe Biden\u2019s weakness and surrender\u201d.<\/p>\n
One Democrat openly voiced concern that Biden\u2019s strategy of containing the Israel-Hamas conflict to Gaza was failing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we see now, it is spiraling out of control. It\u2019s beginning to emerge as a regional war, and unfortunately the United States and our troops are in harms way,\u201d Democratic Representative Barbara Lee said, renewing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Democratic Representative Seth Moulton, who served four tours in Iraq as a Marine, urged against Republican calls for war, saying \u201cdeterrence is hard; war is worse\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the chicken hawks calling for war with Iran, you\u2019re playing into the enemy\u2019s handsand Id like to see you send your sons and daughters to fight,\u201d Moulton said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must have an effective, strategic response on our terms and our timeline,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Experts caution that any strikes against Iranian forces inside Iran could force Tehran to respond forcefully, escalating the situation in a way that could drag the United States into a major Middle East war.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Lord, director of the Middle East security programme at the Centre for a New American Security, said striking directly inside Iran would raise questions for Tehran about regime survival.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you do things overtly you represent a major escalation for the Iranians,\u201d Lord said.<\/p>\n
Charles Lister of the Washington-based Middle East Institute said a likely response would be to go after a significant target or high-value militant from groups in Iraq or Syria.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened this morning, was on a totally different level than anything these proxies have done in the past two to three months [\u2026] (but) despite all of the calls to do something in Iran, I don\u2019t see this administration taking that bait,\u201d Lister said.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iran denied US and British accusations that it supported militant groups behind a drone strike in Jordan that killed three US military personnel, Tehran\u2019s official IRNA news agency reported on Monday. \u201cThese claims are made with specific political goals to reverse the realities of the region,\u201d IRNA quoted foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani as saying. 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