US President Joe Biden is under enormous pressure to fight back after this weekend's deadly drone attack on a US military base in Jordan. That's what The Guardian's Simon Tisdall writes in an analysis.
The US has singled out Iran-allied militia groups for the attack. It has been waved off by Iran, a dismissal few in Washington buy.
Tisdall writes that retaliation directly against Iran would be a disaster: It would prolong the Gaza conflict, almost certainly trigger an attack by Hezbollah on Israel and destabilize the regimes of Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf states. It would also be a gift to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long wanted to see military action against the arch-enemy, writes Tisdall.
"Is this what's happening now? Have we reached the point of no return?”
Sky News' Dominic Waghorn writes that Biden received a list of options from the Pentagon and that he could give the go-ahead to a military move in the Middle East as soon as tonight.
"America's enemies have gone too far: Failure to act is not an option, but an overreaction could cause it to explode in the Middle East and cause a regional war."
Several observers also point out that Biden's balancing act is difficult because he has to manage public opinion at home before the presidential election. Republican senators have called for the US to attack Iran. At the same time, writes Politico, a new expensive war could scare away voters.
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US confused enemy drones with its own before attack - victims named
The US Department of Defense has identified and named the three soldiers killed in the drone attack on Jordan. It is about Sergeant William Rivers, 46, and soldiers Kennedy Sanders, 24, and Breonna Moffet, 23, writes CNN. All three were reservists with the 718th Engineer Company based in the state of Georgia.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the reason anti-aircraft systems did not shoot down the attacking drone was that an American drone was returning to base at the same time. The enemy's drones were therefore mixed up with their own and the air defense was not immediately activated, according to the newspaper's sources.
More than 40 Americans are said to have been injured in the drone attack, in addition to the fatalities, according to the Pentagon. The reason so many were injured is said to be that the attack took place early in the morning when many on the military base were still sleeping.
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