On Tuesday, December 26th the United States sent air strikes to Iraq in response to a drone attack that was carried out by Iraq and blamed on Iran.
The Iraqi government says that the air strikes sent by the United States were “hostile acts”. The air strikes killed one member of the Iraqi security force and wounded 18 people, including civilians. The government stated that this was an “unacceptable attack on Iraqi sovereignty that would harm bilateral relations.”
The airstrikes targeted three sites and were said to be “necessary and proportionate”, and that they were “intended to disrupt and degrade” the capabilities of the Iran-aligned groups responsible for the attacks against the United States.
“While we do not seek to escalate [the] conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities,” said Lloyd Austin, Defense Secretary.
US officials on Tuesday said that the military would continue to retaliate if US forces continued to be targeted. They were fully prepared to continue to fight for their country and to stand their ground if the attacks continued.
“The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue,” said Adrienne Watson, US National Security Council spokesperson.
“Let me be clear – the president and I will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests,” said Austin, “There is no higher priority.”
The US Central Command said that their assessments of the recent strikes showed that they destroyed the targeted facilities, killed several Kataib Hezbollah fighters, and didn’t kill any civilians.
Many are stating that this is just one more reaction to the rising death toll in Palestine and that many nations and countries are on edge, on defense, and ready to fight due to the current international climate.
Regardless, this is another attack that could lead to a more heated conflict. Although the United States doesn’t seem to want to stand down, and they’ve made it clear they will fight back, we can expect tensions to heighten as the violence increases.
