By Xu Lifan
According to the US Cable News Network (CNN), on January 28, local time, the United States Central Command issued a statement confirming that a drone attack on a US military base in northeast Jordan near the border with Syria killed three US soldiers and wounded 34 others.
This marks the first time the US soldiers have been killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since the onset of the new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which includes Kataeb Hezbollah, Nujabaa and other militias, has claimed responsibility for the assault. The Iraqi militias previously claimed to have attacked five US military bases in Syria and Iraq in retaliation for Washington's support for Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip, but no casualties were reported.
From Gaza to the Red Sea, and from Lebanon to Syria and Iraq, attacks against the US forces have been steadily increasing. This reflects the strategic deficiencies of the US military in the Middle East and the failing Middle East policy of the Biden administration.
The attack exposed US military deployment vulnerability
The US base targeted by the drone, named TOWER 22, with 350 US Army and Air Force personnel deployed there, is an outpost of the US military base at Al-Tanf.
The Al-Tanf base, located in the border area with Syria and Iraq in northeast Jordan, has been quartered by the US military since early 2016 under the banner of training new Syrian troops against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). It can be said that the Al-Tanf base constitutes a major source of risk for instability in the Middle East, especially in Syria. Former Commander of the United States Central Command Joseph Votel made no secret of Al-Tanf's significance to the US military, bluntly stating that it is an important stronghold to contain Iranian forces.
The question is why the air defense system at such an important military base failed to protect itself against drone attacks. The base had been attacked at least two times last year with no fatalities. The US military apparently had not strengthened the air defense forces, so the air defense system of the Al-Tanf base did not effectively cover TOWER 22. Otherwise, the incident was caused by human errors. Whatever the case, this has revealed the US weakness in terms of military deployment.
The legitimacy of US military bases in the Middle East is being questioned
Currently, the US has deployed about 3,000 troops in Jordan, about 2,500 troops in Iraq and about 2,000 troops in Syria. It is worth noting that despite rising military conflicts in the region, the Middle Eastern countries have continuously decreased their dependence on the US military protection. What’s more, there is an increasing chorus of voices questioning the presence of the US military.
On January 13, a total of 88 Iraqi councilors submitted a bill to the Council of Representatives to end the deployment of foreign troops in the country. On January 27, Iraq and the US initiated the first round of talks to discuss terminating the existence of the US-led international military coalition in Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani said that the reason for the presence of international allied forces in the country has disappeared.
Mass protests recently erupted in Bahrain and protesters refused to recognize the legitimacy of the presence of the United States Fifth Fleet in the region. In Saudi Arabia, the US military had previously withdrawn its missile defense system and Patriot anti-missile forces. As for the Al-Tanf base, Syria has never acknowledged the legitimacy of the US military presence.
The legitimacy of the US bases is broadly challenged. The attacks on the US bases demonstrate that the presence of the US military in the Middle East has not reduced regional security risks but increased its own security risks. Such risks would exert political impact on the Biden administration.
The Biden administration has been stranded in a mire
Biden quickly reacted to the attack on the Al-Tanf base. Leading US senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott from differing parties also called on "hitting Iran hard."
However, Biden's options are constrained in reality. On the one hand, the Ukraine crisis and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict have weakened US military deployment in other regions. Under such circumstances, it would be difficult for the US to directly launch large-scale retaliation against Iran.
On the other hand, since the outbreak of the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Biden administration has adopted a strategy of avoiding involvement while effectively deterring Sunni forces in the context of the US election. The election campaign is now underway in the US, and if the Biden administration readily resorts to force toward Iran, it may not necessarily bolster deterrence and could actually undermine its election campaign.
Pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza is the only way for the US forces to avoid being attacked. The problem is that except for flexing muscles by the aircraft carrier diplomacy and the Red Sea escort coalition, the Biden administration has never come up with a real solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the attacks on the US military bases have forced it into a tight spot with no easy way out.
Editor's note: Originally published on china.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
