The killings of three US troops and the injury of various others by Iran-backed terrorists on Sunday has increased political pressure on President Joe Biden to strike directly against Iran, a step he has been hesitant to make for fear of sparking a larger war, news agency Reuters reported. According to experts, Biden's reaction choices might vary from attacking Iranian soldiers outside to even within Iran, to launching a more cautious reprisal assault just against the Iran-backed terrorists responsible.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October 2023, Iran-backed forces have targeted American soldiers in Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and off the coast of Yemen more than 150 times.
However, before Sunday's attack on Tower 22, an isolated outpost near Jordan's northeastern border with Syria, no U.S. forces had been killed or injured. This provided Biden the political room he needed to carry out US reprisal, exacting costs on Iran-backed forces without risking open confrontation with Tehran, Reuters reported.
Biden stated that the United States will retaliate, but gave no further information.
Republicans accused Biden of allowing American personnel to become passive targets, waiting for the day when a drone or missile would slip base defences. They claim that day arrived on Sunday, when a single one-way assault drone struck near the base barracks early in the morning.
In response, they argue that Biden must strike Iran. "He left our troops as sitting ducks. The only answer to these attacks must be devastating military retaliation against Iran's terrorist forces, both in Iran and across the Middle East," Republican U.S. Senator Tom Cotton was quoted as saying by Reuters in its report.
Representative Mike Rogers, the Republican who chairs the House Military Oversight Committee, has also urged for action against Tehran.
"It's long past time for President Biden to finally hold the terrorist Iranian regime and their extremist proxies accountable for the attacks they've carried out," Rogers said.
Former President Donald Trump, who aspires to challenge Biden in this year's presidential race, described the attack as a "consequence of Joe Biden's weakness and surrender."
The Biden administration has stated that it goes to considerable measures to protect American troops across the world.
One Democrat publicly expressed worry that Biden's strategy for limiting the Israel-Hamas confrontation to Gaza was failing.
"As we see now, it is spiraling out of control. It's beginning to emerge as a regional war, and unfortunately the United States and our troops are in harms way," Democratic Representative Barbara Lee was quoted by Reuters in its report.