The Sunday killing of three U.S. service members and the wounding of dozens of others by an Iraqi militia group at a U.S. base in Jordan should raise serious questions about why the United States has so many troops overseas.
Instead, as the Pentagon and President Joe Biden vow a response is coming, Republican war hawks in Congress urged the president to retaliate against Iran. The Iraqi militia group responsible for this attack, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, is supported, influenced, and often directed by Tehran.
While retaliation is necessary, these American casualties underline the reality that malignant forces like the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which claimed credit for Sunday’s attack, are easily capable of attacking U.S. troops in the Middle East. According to the Associated Press, there are 3,000 U.S. troops in Jordan. The base that was attacked on Sunday is situated close to the country’s border with Syria.
But here’s the thing: The U.S. is not at war with any of these nations. The war in Afghanistan is over, and ISIS has largely been defeated. The only remaining pretense for keeping U.S. troops in the region is based on the argument that their continued presence is a deterrent to nefarious regional actors.
Sunday’s attack, as well as the dozens of other attacks over the past few months, has completely disproved this argument. Furthermore, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has extensive ties to the Popular Mobilization Forces, which are partly funded by the government of Iraq. And in 2023, the U.S., according to its publicly disclosed data, disbursed at least $525,947,619 to Iraq in foreign assistance funding, of which 48% was for military aid.
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In other words, American taxpayers may have helped foot the bill for an attack that killed three U.S. service members.
If Biden and members of Congress are serious about protecting American lives, they should cut off the Iraqi government from U.S. taxpayer money. And they should take immediate steps to draw down our military presence in the Middle East. Otherwise, expect more attacks like the one on Sunday.