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"So this particular attack was egregious, in that the attack was on the sleeping area of one our bases," said Austin. "And again, we have Khataib Hezbollah and other elements continue to attack our troops and it's time to take away even more capability than we've taken in the past."
Iranian leaders have insisted they had no role in the Jordan attack and have threatened to retaliate if attacked. There have even been questions raised by U.S. intelligence about how much control Tehran actually has over these groups.
Austin said it didn't matter if Iran knew.
"These are Iranian proxy groups. And how much Iran knew or didn't know, we don't know, but it really doesn't matter because Iran sponsors these groups, it funds these groups, and in some cases, it trains these groups on advanced conventional weapons," he explained. Without that facilitation, these kinds of things don't happen."
The defense secretary scoffed at the idea the pending U.S. response to the Tower 22 attack was an escalation.
"We've not described what our response is going to be," he said. "But we look to hold the people that are responsible for this accountable. And we also look to make sure that we continue to take away capability from them as we go forward."
"I don't think the adversaries are of a one-and-done mindset," he added. "And so they have a lot of capability, I have a lot more. And as I said earlier, we're going to do what's necessary to protect our troops and our interests."
On Wednesday, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the looming response to the Tower 22 attack would be undertaken by the U.S. alone.
Those attacks could come at any time now and, as Austin said, they will be carried out not just once, but repeatedly over an unspecified period of time if needed. However, it remains to be seen how effective the strikes could be in regard to deterring future attacks. Similar questions apply to how much a U.S. operation can degrade the capabilities behind these attacks as Iranian-backed militant groups and the IRGC have had days to prepare for them.
Austin's briefing, his first since returning to the Pentagon after being hospitalized due to complications from prostate cancer surgery, came on a busy day for U.S. forces in the Middle East. Houthi forces in Yemen have shown no sign of curtailing their anti-ship attacks, with today being a particularly dangerous in the region surrounding the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
U.S. Central Command said that its forces destroyed a Houthi uncrewed surface vessel (USV) heading toward international shipping lanes “and determined it presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the U.S. Navy vessels in the region.”
“U.S. Forces subsequently struck and destroyed the USV in self-defense resulting in significant secondary explosions,” the command said on Twitter. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”
This marks the first time the U.S. has destroyed a Houthi USV. As we previously reported, the Houthis, who actually pioneered the operational use of kamikaze USVs years ago, first tried to attack with one during this conflict last month.
Earlier on Thursday, at about 5 a.m. local time, CENTCOM forces “engaged and shot down” a drone over the Gulf of Aden. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”
Then, at approximately 12:45 p.m. local time, “two anti-ship ballistic missile were launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen likely towards the M/V Koi in the Red Sea," the command said. “The missiles impacted in the water without hitting the ship. There were no injuries and no damage reported to the M/V Koi or coalition ships in the area."
All these incidents follow an extremely close call on Tuesday, when the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Gravely had to use its its Mark 15 Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) against an incoming threat, CNN reported. You can read more about the significance of a missile getting within a mile of a U.S. Navy warship in our story here.
This story is rapidly advancing. With U.S. strikes looming, the next few days are likely to be extremely violent in the region.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
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