{"id":94427,"date":"2024-01-29T21:17:08","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T21:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.estaql.com\/biden-faces-pivotal-moment-as-he-weighs-retaliation-for-soldier-deaths-in-jordan-drone-strike-world-news\/"},"modified":"2024-01-29T21:17:08","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T21:17:08","slug":"biden-faces-pivotal-moment-as-he-weighs-retaliation-for-soldier-deaths-in-jordan-drone-strike-world-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/biden-faces-pivotal-moment-as-he-weighs-retaliation-for-soldier-deaths-in-jordan-drone-strike-world-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden faces pivotal moment as he weighs retaliation for soldier deaths in Jordan drone strike | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Biden faces pivotal moment as he weighs retaliation for soldier deaths in Jordan drone strike | World News<\/h2>\n

Biden faces pivotal moment as he weighs retaliation for soldier deaths in Jordan drone strike | World News<\/p>\n

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As early as tonight, President Joe Biden will authorise US military action in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

It is likely to be one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency.<\/p>\n

At stake, the credibility of American deterrence and the teetering stability of the region.<\/p>\n

Middle East latest: ‘Drone mix-up’ led to deadly attack on US troops<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ever since the game-changing Hamas<\/strong> attacks on Israel<\/strong> last October, this always volatile part of the world has seemed on the brink of a much larger conflict.<\/p>\n

The American president will hope his choice in the coming hours will deter any such escalation. It may do the opposite.<\/p>\n

America’s enemies have crossed a line: Inaction is not an option, but over-reacting could light the tinderbox of Middle East tensions and ignite a regional war.<\/p>\n

For weeks, Iranian-backed militia have been launching attacks on US assets without inflicting casualties.<\/p>\n

That changed when a drone penetrated defences at a desert base in Jordan and reached a tent full of sleeping American soldiers.<\/p>\n

Three are dead and more than 40 injured in the attack<\/strong> – blamed on a militia group with close ties to Iran.<\/p>\n

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\n The Tower 22 base where the soldiers were killed. Pic: Planet Labs PBC via AP
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\n Biden will try to calibrate so his response punishes and deters, but doesn’t escalate. Pic: AP
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In the hours since, President Biden<\/strong> will have been given a range of options by his military advisers ranging from the symbolic to the severely punitive.<\/p>\n

He could attack the group responsible, but that will seen by many back home as weak and not striking the heart of the problem: the group’s patrons in Iran<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Also on the Pentagon’s list of options, action against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps in the region outside Iran or, attacking Iranian assets within its borders.<\/p>\n

Biden will not just be weighing geopolitical factors but domestic political considerations too.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong>
US retaliation could lead to ‘uncontrolled escalation’<\/strong>
Are we heading for WW3? Experts give their verdicts<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Drone attack: Will the US retaliate? <\/span>
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His Republican rivals are baying for attacks on Iran itself. He cannot afford to look weak in an election year.<\/p>\n

But another costly foreign war could hurt his chances of re-election too. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.<\/p>\n

Ever since tensions were ignited by the Hamas atrocities of 7 October and Israel’s response, there has been fear of widening conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

The president will try to calibrate his response so it punishes and deters but does not escalate.<\/p>\n

But war is not a precise science.<\/p>\n

If US military action is disproportionately destructive it will demand a stronger response from Iran. A cycle of escalation will ensue.<\/p>\n

Confrontation has been ratcheting up in the air, on land and at sea.<\/p>\n

US and British airstrikes have followed attacks by other Iranian proxies, the Houthis, in the Red Sea. Attacks on US assets on the ground in Syria, Iraq and Jordan have intensified.<\/p>\n

It is still assumed no one wants a much bigger war but events at some point may soon acquire an irreversible momentum, tipping the region into one.<\/p>\n

That danger is far from receding, a moment of no return seems to be approaching with each passing day.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Biden faces pivotal moment as he weighs retaliation for soldier deaths in Jordan drone strike | World News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biden faces pivotal moment as he weighs retaliation for soldier deaths in Jordan drone strike | World News Biden faces pivotal moment as he weighs retaliation for soldier deaths in Jordan drone strike | World News As early as tonight, President Joe Biden will authorise US military action in the Middle East. It is likely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7711],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7711"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94427\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estaql.com\/seo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}