US hits more than 85 targets
FOX News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin gives an update on “Your World” on the retaliation for the drone attack on U.S. military personnel in Jordan.
Former officials say U.S. retaliatory strikes against Iranian targets in Syria and Iraq could occur if Iran is persuaded to stop forcing its proxies to attack U.S. personnel and facilities “anywhere in the world.” be successful only in
“The only measure of Iran’s effectiveness is whether it deters further Iranian aggression,” Mike Pompeo, who served as secretary of state during the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital.
“It includes not only the aggressions in Jordan and Iraq, but also Iranian attacks on U.S. interests around the world, support for Hamas and Hezbollah against our Israeli ally, and Iranian attacks on warships and commercial vessels in the Red Sea,” he said. explained.
He stressed that he could not be sure of the impact because the exact targets the US attacked were not known.
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Fox News map showing locations of US attacks on Iranian proxies. (Fox News)
“Achieving this, after the delayed response following the killing of three Americans, will require a level of seriousness and willingness to impose real costs on Iran that we have never seen before.” It will be,” he added. “This failure has triggered an escalation that will not stop until the Biden administration works with our allies to restore deterrence.”
Two U.S. defense officials told Fox News Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin that the U.S. has launched attacks on targets linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and affiliated militias in Syria and Iraq. I admitted that I did it.
The airstrikes began around 4:00 pm ET on Friday and hit 85 targets in six locations, including command and control headquarters, weapons storage facilities, and underground bunkers, making them more targeted than before.
President Biden authorized the attack on Sunday after an attack in Jordan killed three U.S. service members and injured 40 others. The Iraqi group Kataib Hezbollah has pledged to halt military operations following pressure from the Iraqi government and the group’s Iranian backers.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, March 3, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
U.S. Secretary of Defense Gen. Lloyd Austin acknowledged the attack an hour after it was carried out, specifically naming the Revolutionary Guards and saying that the U.S. is “not seeking conflict in the Middle East or elsewhere,” but that the Biden administration “We will not tolerate attacks on the United States,” he said. The American military. ”
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Mr. Austin pledged to “take all actions necessary to protect the United States, our military, and our interests.”
Former military officials reacted cautiously to news that the U.S. had carried out the long-awaited attack, with at least one former major general saying the long delays allowed proxies to move personnel away from potential targets. suggested that it could be done.
President Biden and Jill Biden attend the dignified transfer of the bodies of three U.S. service members killed in a drone attack on a U.S. military outpost in Jordan at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, February 2, 2024. Mrs. (Robert Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
“This is an attack that has been long overdue,” retired Navy Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told FOX News Digital.
“If the timing is delayed, most of the Revolutionary Guards troops will likely pack up and return to Iran,” Montgomery suggested. “Even the number of proxies may be small. This is a good target package for the first day. I hope it is part of a sustained campaign over several weeks.”
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He added: “It’s good to see long-range bombers utilized because they allow for more cost-effective ordinance options,” adding that strikes “can only serve as a deterrent if they are sustained and persistent.” can be recovered.”
Former CENTCOM commander. Appearing on “Your World with Neil Kabuto,” Joseph Bortel called the massive airstrike “not surprising,” adding that tracking “dozens” of targets at the same time “is a big deal for us.” “It’s within his ability,” he said.
Iranian missiles on display in a park in Tehran, Iran, on January 20, 2024. (Majid Saidi/Getty Images)
“The attacks in Syria have shown that we are targeting militias operating in the region that may have certainly been involved in this incident, and perhaps some of the Iranian advisers, leaders and facilities that were supporting them. “It shows me that we’re going to pursue that,” Botel explained.
“So I think we’ll have to…wait a little bit,” he continued. “We need to be patient and see how the plan unfolds in the coming hours and days.
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“Certainly there is a response by the insurgents on the ground because they recognize that with the death of our soldiers they have crossed a line that should not be crossed here,” Votel added.
He noted that it remains unclear whether the attacked buildings are of sufficient value compared to attacks on leaders and “other people who are actually responsible for making decisions.”
“This first tier could target extremist groups, and the next tier could target enablers of those extremist groups,” Votel suggested.
Jennifer Griffin at Fox News and Brie Stimson and Sarah Rumpf-Witten at Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
