US President Joe Biden steps off Air Force One upon arrival at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport in Christiansted, Saint Croix, on the US Virgin Islands, on Dec. 27, 2023. Biden will be spending the New Year's holiday on Saint Croix. (Mandel NGAN/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)
(Tribune News Service) — President Joe Biden said the U.S. military struck targets in Iraq in order to prevent further attacks on American personnel in the Middle East, which have fueled concerns about a wider regional conflict.
U.S. forces on Christmas Day struck three installations linked to an Iran-backed insurgent group, their latest retaliation against militias targeting Americans. The strikes are “intended to degrade and disrupt the ongoing series of attacks against the United States and our partners” and to “deter” Tehran’s proxy forces “from conducting or supporting further attacks,” Biden wrote Wednesday in a letter to congressional leaders.
The president’s comments provided the broadest rationale yet for stepped-up U.S. military action in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas war.
American troops have been injured in a series of attacks carried out by militias supported by Iran, while Yemen-based Houthi rebels have wrought havoc on Red Sea shipping by launching drone strikes on commercial vessels. The militant groups’ attacks are meant to be in support of Hamas, the Iran-backed group that rules the Gaza Strip and carried out the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel that sparked the war.
The U.S. has responded by bolstering its naval presence in the Mediterranean Sea and forming a multinational maritime task force to protect ships in the Red Sea. The White House also declassified intelligence saying that Iran is responsible for the attacks, claims which Tehran has denied. U.S. military forces for weeks have also conducted strikes against militia targets in Iraq and Syria.
The latest strikes were against sites linked to Iraq-based Kataib Hezbollah, an insurgent group behind an attack that injured three U.S. personnel, leaving one in critical condition.
Tensions remain high, as the U.S. and others have sought to contain the Israel-Hamas conflict from becoming a broader war that destabilizes the Middle East. Biden on Tuesday spoke to Qatari leader Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani about reviving efforts to free hostages held by Hamas and boosting humanitarian aid to Gaza, steps that could lead to a pause in fighting.
Biden’s comments were included in a letter that he said was “consistent” with the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which requires presidents to notify Congress within 48 hours of taking military action.
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