Attacking Iran would backfire
US Republicans are beating the drums of war after an overnight drone strike in Jordan killed three American servicemen and injured dozens more. Democratic President Joe Biden, now under pressure from his political rivals to hit back, has pointed the finger at “Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq” for launching the bloody attack on an outpost in Jordan’s northeast on the border with Syria.
He has vowed to respond but the Republicans are egging him on to what Senator Tom Cotton calls “devastating military retaliation against Iran… both in Iran and across the Middle East.”
These are the first US military fatalities in the region since the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip began Oct. 7, despite more than 150 attacks on American forces by resistance forces across the Middle East in support of the Palestinian group Hamas that has been fighting back the Israeli offensive.
Iran has denied any involvement in the recent attack but has already warned the US that the conflict in the Palestinian enclave could spill over into other parts of the region if the Israeli war machine is not flagged down. The warning fell on deaf ears and Washington now appears to be paying the price for its unwavering support for a regime that has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, in a densely populated area in almost four months with US-made weapons.
Biden should be vigilant against political provocations and should not be duped into a direct military attack on Iran to take vengeance for a strike launched by a third party. Iran does not dodge responsibility for an act it has committed. The glaring examples are the downing of a US drone off its Persian Gulf coast in 2019, and a brazen missile attack on American forces in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani in 2020.
Firstly, any insane move will definitely instigate a proportionate response from Iran, which could lead to a full-blown war in an already volatile region.
Secondly, military action against Iran is not expected to bring victory for an embattled president who is lagging behind by large margins in the face of a wounded Donald Trump.
A new war in the Middle East would be in no one’s interest as the region cannot stand destruction and bloodshed anymore. Let’s hope that wisdom will prevail in the White House, and Biden will not fall for the hawks’ calls for locking horns with Iran.