Flashpoint for War: The Drone Killings at Tower 22
The BBC’s characteristically mild-mannered note said it all: What is Tower 22? More to the point, what are US forces doing in Jordan? (To be more precise, a dusty scratching on the Syria-Jordan border.) These questions were posed in the aftermath of yet another drone attack against a US outpost in the Middle East, its location of dubious strategic relevance to Washington, yet seen as indispensable to its global footprint. On this occasion, the attack proved successful, killing three troops and wounding dozens.
The Times of Israel offered a workmanlike description of the site’s role: “Tower 22 is located close enough to US troops at Tanf that it could potentially help support them, while potentially countering Iran-backed militants in the area and allowing troops to keep an eye on remnants of Islamic State in the region.” The paper does not go on to mention the other role: that US forces are also present in the region to protect Israeli interests, acting as a shield against Iran.
While Tower 22 is located more towards Jordan, it is a dozen miles or so to the Syria-based al-Tanf garrison, which retains a US troop presence. Initially, that presence was justified to cope with the formidable threat posed by Islamic State as part of Operation Inherent Resolve. In due course, it became something of a watch post on Iran’s burgeoning military presence in Syria and Iraq, an inflation as much a consequence of Tehran’s successful efforts against the fundamentalist group as it was a product of Washington’s destabilising invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A January 28 press release from US Central Command notes that the attack was inflicted by “a one-way attack UAS [Unmanned Aerial System] that impacted on a base in northeast Jordan, near the Syrian border.” Its description of Tower 22 is suitably vague, described as a “logistics support base” forming the Jordanian Defense Network. “There are approximately 350 US Army and Air Force personnel deployed to the base, conducting a number of key support functions, including support to the coalition for the lasting defeat of ISIS.” No mention is made of Iran or Israel.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh found it hard to conceal the extent that US bases in the region have come under attack. Clumsily, she tried to be vague as to reasons why such assaults were taking place to begin with, though her department has, since October 17 last year, tracked 165 attacks, 66 on US troops in Iraq and 98 in Syria. The singular feature in the assault on Tower 22, she stressed, was that it worked. “To my knowledge, there was nothing different or new about this attack that we’ve seen in other facilities that house our service members,” she told reporters on January 29. “Unfortunately, this attack was successful, but we can’t discount the fact that other attacks, whether Iraq or Syria, were not intended to kill our service members.”
A senior official from the umbrella grouping known as Islamic Resistance in Iraq justified the attack as part of a broader campaign against the US for its unwavering support for Israel and its relentlessly murderous campaign in Gaza. (Since October 17, the group is said to have staged 140 attacks on US sites in both Iraq and Syria.) “As we have said before if the US keeps supporting Israel, there will [be] escalations.” The official in question went on to state that, “All the US interests in the region are legitimate targets, and we don’t care about US threats to respond.”
A generally accepted view among security boffins is that US troops have achieved what they sought to do: cope with the threat posed by Islamic State. As with any such groups, dissipation and readjustment eventually follows. Washington’s military officials delight in using the term “degrade”, but it would be far better to simply assume that the fighters of such outfits eventually take up with others, blend into the locale, or simply go home.
With roughly 3,000 personnel stationed in Jordan, 2,500 in Iraq, and 900 in Syria, US troops have become ripe targets as Israel’s war in Gaza rages. In effect, they have become bits of surplus pieces on the Middle Eastern chessboard and, to that end, incentives for a broader conflict. The Financial Times, noting the view of an unnamed source purporting to be a “senior western diplomat” (aren’t they always?), fretted that the tinderbox was about to go off. “We’re always worried about US and Iranian forces getting into direct confrontation there, whether by accident or on purpose.”
President Joe Biden has promised some suitable retaliation but does not wish for “a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for.” A typically mangled response came from National Security Council spokesman John Kirby: “It’s very possible what you’ll see is a tiered approach here, not just a single action, but potentially multiple actions over a period of time.”
Rather than seeing these attacks as incentives to leave such outposts, the don’t cut and run mentality may prove all too powerful in its muscular stupidity. Empires do not merely bring with them sorrows but incentives to be stubborn. The beneficiaries will be the usual coterie of war mongers and peace killers.
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Seems a trait with empires. They conquer, then eventually retire to the fortress, where they actually become stationary indolent and vulnerable.
Some say even Rome fell through degeneration to a form of break down and nascent feudallsim. The US Alliance continues, but backward and inwards-looking, now fearful of truth rather than welcoming of it.
So much of the world hates the Divided States of Aggression, and not just for protecting Israel from the whole middle east, that it is no surprise when attacks happen to their “defence” forces. You get what you deserve. Their years of aggression against other countries is coming back to bite them in the arse and I personally couldn’t be happier to see them get their comeuppance. If enough Seppos are silly enough to vote the orange menace back in to office then that is the end of their country ever deserving any respect, ever again. Their political system is about the most flawed “democracy” in the world. Two choices, both almost as bad as each other, run by ‘privileged’ old men way out of touch with what is actually happening around them. They are an embarrassment right across the whole planet.
The USA military “outposts” look rather like “clickbait” now.
Which is unfortunate for the folk who man them.
It seems they dont have a monopoly on inteligence.
Biden and his ‘intelligence ‘ flunkies,his ‘national security advisors’ etc.,have apparently learned nothing in the last sixty odd years,because they keep making the same mistakes.And the death of three US personnel is worth so much more hand wringing than the twenty six thousand innocents in Gaza.America,home of the brave,land of the free ,to which we might add,the terminally indifferent and hypocritical.Doesn’t matter who gets the White House,it’s still run by the moneyed interests.The good ‘ol USA is fucked.
Yeah, strange, as it’s happened so often before. With all schemes exhausted, they will retreat to their sieges with no option but to eat their own.
It seems there’s still some international organizations that the US is unable to control.
“THE HAGUE, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Judges at the top U.N. court on Wednesday found that Russia violated elements of a U.N. anti-terrorism treaty, but declined to rule on allegations brought by Kyiv that Moscow was responsible for the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.
In the same ruling, judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found that Russia had breached an anti-discrimination treaty by failing to support Ukrainian language education in Crimea after its 2014 annexation of the peninsula.
The decisions were a legal setback for Kyiv. The court rejected Ukraine’s requests to order reparations for both violations and only ordered Russia to comply with the treaties.”
If the US wants to avoid its forces being attacked on foreign soil, it should withdraw them. American foreign militarily bases are more trouble for the world than it is worth. They are not meant to maintain world peace but to project selfish American national interests at the expense of other nations. Global peace cannot be realized so long as the US imposes its self-proclaimed world policeman role for its own purposes and benefits. The US has started more foreign wars than any other nation since its founding. American international diplomacy is dictated by war and its military. US foreign military bases must go for the sake of world peace. The US is definitely not a peace loving country. lt is not a force for global good.
The USA portrays itself as the worlds policeman. The reality is that the USA is the worlds largest Mafia organisation thriving on stand over tactics while running a protection racket for those countries who pay the price financially and the abandonment of political independence and sovereignty.
Given that the US has abandoned diplomacy in preference for stand-over tactics, flashpoints for war are not hard to find.
Headline in the Guardian yesterday, “US military stockpiling supplies in Australia in readiness for any confrontation with China”.
The first par reads “When US and Australian troops practised amphibious landings, ground combat and air operations last year, they drew headlines about the allies deepening defence cooperation to counter China’s growing military ambitions.”
But when you click on the “military ambitions” link you find that the “military ambitions” are no more than an afterthought to an article about prominent Australians advocating a lessening of tension between China and the US.
Even the afterthought was manipulative — “The statement also advocated de-escalation of tensions over Taiwan with acceptance by both sides of the need for open-ended commitment to the cross-strait status quo. Taiwan remains one of the most sensitive issues in the relationship between the US and China, with Beijing declaring the self-governed democracy is an inherent part of its territory.”
It was apparently of no importance to the author that it’s not a case of Beijing declaring Taiwan to be part of it’s territory, the entire world has that view including Taiwan.
Too many Australian news outlets see themselves as loyal servants of the US Empire. Continual relentless distortions of reality such as this are creating a fear of China that is baseless. I see it in friends who raise the issue without prompting from me. So deep is their fear that when the misconception is explained to them they are not relieved, they are angry and scornful.
The news media will have us as a first-strike target if tensions with China get out of hand and we will happily go along with that while the US sits back, half a world away from the fallout.
Somehow this has a similar look to the Yangtze River incident used by the US NE Military Industrial Complex (NEMIC) through the US State Department, to upgrade the US infiltration of Vietnam post French Occupation to the full blown imperialist war for control of the natural resources of South Vietnam. It took 12 years and the Second American Revolution (so named by Kissinger) by civilians to regain control of the Washington Bubble pollies.
This has the same look as the WMD ”Words of mass Deception” based on deliberately erroneous ”intelligence” from the CIA and other sources that was held to be ”more reliable” than the firsthand evidence from the Atomic Energy Inspectors.
.
The USUKA sub debacle has enriched Scummo at the cost of Australian sovereignty, yet to date there have been few calls for him to be indicted for treason. Why??
NEC, the incident you mean to have referred to is the Gulf of Tonkin incident, not the Yangtze incident. Two different beasts entirely.
Another article today, this time from our very own ABC, using selective language to distort a story and to diminish the efforts of the various Arab groups that have come together very loosely to end the genocide in Gaza.
“The Israel-Gaza war lit the fuse on the Middle East’s tense powder keg, and the Iran-backed Axis of Resistance is stoking the flames.” For the ABC, trying to stop genocide is “stoking the flames.”
Here’s a link to a history of the Yemenis, one of the groups supporting the people of Gaza. The ABC is so ignorant that they refer to the Yemenis as proxies for Iran. The video gives a side of the story you will not get from the Western news media.
Please note the deliberate creation by the US of yet another flashpoint to war. So many flashpoints for war at this point in time and one country involved in each.
This is a rare thing, a political video that’s actually watchable, and worth watching.
Steve, the media these days are just mouthpieces.
Off topic, but I saw one article pushing the government’s agenda with the headline “4 out of 5 vapers have health issues.” I read the article, which went on to say that there was no evidence that vaping caused these health issues.
They may as well have said that 4 out of 5 drivers have health issues but there’s no evidence that these health issues were caused by driving.
It’s hard to believe or trust the media anymore. Especially when it comes to the obliteration of Gaza, which is OK, apparently.
Thanks Roswell, yes, you’ve raised another media trap that I fall for regularly.
I have the bad habit of just reading headlines, so as to not get depressed reading the full horror story, but as you point out, often the headline does not support the article.
We all do it, Steve. You’re not alone.
@ Canguro: Thank you for the edit.
A HUGE vote of thx to Steve Davis. Commended and recommended.
A HUGE vote of thx to Steve Davis. Commended and recommended.
Roswell, what are we to do with you?
Why?
You mean “how”?
Nah!
Yr ok.