The Costs of Biden’s Backing for the War in Gaza Keep Increasing

Three U.S. servicemen were killed and dozens others were injured by a drone attack on their base in Jordan today. This latest attack is one of more than 160 launched since October 7 by local militias in Iraq and Syria at bases where U.S. forces are stationed. The war in Gaza and the Biden administration’s unconditional backing for the war have led to this terrible, predictable outcome. The costs of Biden’s backing for the war keep increasing.

Iraqi militias claimed responsibility for the attack:

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group for Iran-linked militias including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a senior official with the organization, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with rules set by the group.

“If the U.S. keeps supporting Israel, there will be escalations,” the Islamic Resistance in Iraq official said. “All U.S. interests in the region are legitimate targets and we don’t care about U.S. threats to respond. … Martyrdom is our prize.”

U.S. forces had already been coming under fire in Iraq and Syria for years since U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal. It was just a matter of time before there were fatalities from attacks like this one. The U.S. has kept troops in Iraq in the face of substantial local political opposition, and the assassination strike in Baghdad earlier this month has put additional pressure on the Iraqi government to get our troops out. The base targeted in the attack may have been in Jordan, but it seems clear enough that it was struck because of the ongoing conflict with Iraqi militias that has continued and worsened since the 2020 assassination of Soleimani and an Iraqi militia leader.

The war in Gaza has supercharged all of these preexisting tensions. Backing the war in Gaza has exposed U.S. forces in the region to much greater risk for the sake of enabling slaughter and mass starvation. The case for halting all support for the war and pressing for a ceasefire was overwhelming before today’s attack, and now it is even stronger.

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Daniel Larison is a contributing editor for Antiwar.com and maintains his own site at Eunomia. He is former senior editor at The American Conservative. He has been published in the New York Times Book Review, Dallas Morning News, World Politics Review, Politico Magazine, Orthodox Life, Front Porch Republic, The American Scene, and Culture11, and was a columnist for The Week. He holds a PhD in history from the University of Chicago, and resides in Lancaster, PA. Follow him on Twitter.