By Bonnie Kristian
The Biden administration launched airstrikes against Iran-linked militias in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday, reportedly killing five militia members and, if Syrian state-run media accounts are correct, one child.
The administration cast the strikes as a defensive measure to keep US troops in the region safe from the militias' drone attacks, proof that "President Biden … will act to protect US personnel."
This characterization is consistent with the Biden team's broader messaging on Iraq and Syria, which is that Iraq wants our military to stick around indefinitely, that ongoing occupation of both nations is right and needful to defend against Iran and the last remnants of ISIS, and that these wars aren't analogous to the "forever war" in Afghanistan Biden promised to end.
This piece was originally published in Insider on July 2, 2021. Read more HERE.