Biden warns Iran to 'be careful' and says they 'can't act with impunity' after US airstrike that 'killed 22' Tehran-backed militia fighters in Syria
President Joe Biden said on Friday that his decision to authorize United States airstrikes in Syria is a warning to Iran to not support militia groups that threaten U.S. interests or personnel.
'You can't act with impunity. Be careful,' Biden said when a reporter asked what message he had intended to send with the airstrikes.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that Biden used his constitutional authority to defend U.S. personnel in the first military actions he has authorized as Commander-in-Chief.
'The targets were chosen to correspond to the recent attacks on facilities and to deter the risk of additional attacks over the coming weeks,' she said.
President Joe Biden said on Friday that his decision to authorize United States airstrikes in Syria is a warning to Iran to not support militia groups that threaten U.S. interests or personnel
US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, left, visit a FEMA COVID-19 vaccination facility at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas on Friday
Authorities said the airstrike targeted structures belonging to two Iranian-backed militias in Al Bukamal (depicted)
The U.S. on Thursday carried out an airstrike in Syria that reportedly killed 22 Iran-backed fighters in an apparent response to rocket attacks against US targets in Iraq that injured American troops and killed a contractor on February 15.
The airstrike was conducted by two Air Force F-15E aircraft which launched seven 500-pound JDAMs, precision guided munitions, Military Times reported.
John Kirby, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, said the strike fully destroyed nine facilities and 'functionally destroyed' two others.
The U.S. targeted a crossing used by the militia groups to move weapons across the border. Authorities said the airstrike targeted structures belonging to two Iranian-backed militias in Al Bukamal.
The threat level for US soldiers and contractors in Iraq has since been raised by the Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, Fox News reported.
Americans in Iraq were put on high alert as officials fear a response to the airstrike, sources told the outlet. The threat level may remain for several days.
Sallyport Global, a company that fulfills US government contracts, has also put American contractors on high alert at Balad Air Base in a separate decision, Fox News reported.
Last weekend, the air base was hit with a Katyusha rocket attack and one person was injured.
In a political twist for the new Democratic administration, several leading Congress members in Biden's own party denounced the airstrikes on Syria.
Democrats said the airstrikes were done without authorization from lawmakers, while Republicans were more supportive.
'Offensive military action without congressional approval is not constitutional absent extraordinary circumstances,' said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat.
And Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, said 'retaliatory strikes not necessary to prevent an imminent threat.'
But Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, backed the decision as 'the correct, proportionate response to protect American lives.'
The airstrike comes after repeated tensions between Iran and the Trump White House over the previous four years which reached a peak following Qassem Soleimani's killing in early 2020.
While the strike could be the first retaliatory move by the United States following last week's attacks, it appeared to be limited in scope, potentially lowering the risk of escalation.
Also a decision to strike only in Syria and not in Iraq would give the Iraqi government some breathing room as it carries out its own investigation of a February 15 attack that wounded Americans.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, Texas on Friday
President Joe Biden walks off of Marine One to head towards Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base on Friday
The US dropped seven 500-pound JDAMs (file image) on seven targets on a crossing used by the militia groups to move weapons across the border
The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was approved by President Joe Biden.
In announcing the strikes, John Kirby, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, said: 'This proportionate military response was conducted together with diplomatic measures, including consultation with coalition partners.'
'The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and coalition personnel. At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to deescalate the overall situation in eastern Syria and Iraq.'
Pentagon officials said they offered up several larger groups of targets but Biden approved the smallest option.
Retaliatory US military strikes have occurred a number of times in the past few years. The rocket attacks against US positions in Iraq were carried out as Washington and Tehran are looking for a way to return to the 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by former president Donald Trump.
Biden administration officials condemned the February 15 rocket attack near the city of Irbil in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish-run region, but as recently as this week officials indicated they had not determined for certain who carried it out.
Officials have noted that in the past, Iranian-backed Shiite militia groups have been responsible for numerous rocket attacks that targeted US personnel or facilities in Iraq.
Kirby, the Pentagon spokesman, had said Tuesday that Iraq is in charge of investigating the February 15 attack.
Video shows red hot shrapnel and smoke filling the air after a rocket landed in the middle of a street in Erbil on February 15. As well as the US contractors wounded and the foreign contractor killed, five Iraqi civilians were wounded in the attack
A view of the scene after a rocket attack outside the international airport in Erbil, the capital of northern Iraqs Kurdish region on February 16
A view of the Erbil International Airport after flights restarted, following a rocket attack outside the international airport, in Erbil, Iraq on February 16
A view of the scene after a rocket attack outside the international airport in Erbil, the capital of northern Iraqs Kurdish region on February 16. The group, calling itself the Guardian of Blood Brigades, said in a statement that it had fired 24 rockets at the airport and they hit their target
'Right now, we're not able to give you a certain attribution as to who was behind these attacks, what groups, and I'm not going to get into the tactical details of every bit of weaponry used here,' Kirby said.
'Let's let the investigations complete and conclude, and then when we have more to say, we will.'
A little-known Shiite militant group calling itself Saraya Awliya al-Dam, Arabic for Guardians of Blood Brigade, claimed responsibility for the February 15 attack.
A week later, a rocket attack in Baghdad's Green Zone appeared to target the US Embassy compound, but no one was hurt.
Iran this week said it has no links to the Guardians of Blood Brigade.
'I'm confident in the target that we went after, we know what we hit,' Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters flying with him from California to Washington.
Speaking shortly after the airstrikes, he added: 'We're confident that that target was being used by the same Shia militants that conducted the strikes,' he said referring to the February 15 rocket attack in northern Iraq that killed one civilian contractor and wounded a US service member and other coalition personnel.
Austin said he recommended the action to Biden.
'We said a number of times that we will respond on our timeline,' Austin said. 'We wanted to be sure of the connectivity and we wanted to be sure that we had the right targets.'
The frequency of attacks by Shiite militia groups against US targets in Iraq diminished late last year ahead of Biden's inauguration, though now Iran is pressing America to return to Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal.
The US under the previous Trump administration blamed Iran-backed groups for carrying out the attacks.
Tensions soared after a Washington-directed drone strike that killed top Iranian Gen Qassem Soleimani and powerful Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis last year.
Trump had said the death of a US contractor would be a red line and provoke US escalation in Iraq.
The December 2019 killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack in Kirkuk sparked a tit-for-tat fight on Iraqi soil that brought the country to the brink of a proxy war.
US forces have been significantly reduced in Iraq to 2,500 personnel and no longer partake in combat missions with Iraqi forces in ongoing operations against the Islamic State group.
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