One American contractor succumbed to heart troubles while attempting to find shelter…
A drone attack has resulted in casualties at a U.S. military base in Syria, where our service members train foreign allies to suppress ISIS:
The U.S. outpost at al-Tanf, Syria, lies close to routes used by terrorists and their enablers to slip weapons to Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.
On Thursday, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder briefed reporters on the latest provocations.
Other bases in the region were also subject to attack.
While one unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was downed, another caused minor injuries at al-Tanf. The attack there coincided with strikes on U.S. and coalition bases in Iraq as tensions escalated over the Israel-Hamas war.
Politico has more on the attacks against the U.S. military and concerns of another entanglement in a Middle East war:
Meanwhile, a U.S. Navy destroyer in the northern Red Sea on Thursday intercepted several missiles and drones launched from Yemen that were deemed a potential threat, Ryder said. No injuries or damage occurred during the episode.
While Ryder declined to attribute the attacks in Syria and Iraq to a specific group, Iran-backed armed groups in the region have threatened to target U.S. positions if Washington intervened to support Israel in its war with Hamas. Meanwhile, the Houthi fighters whom the Pentagon blamed for the missile and drones intercepted over the Red Sea on Thursday have received significant backing from Tehran.
Anger in the Arab world spiked after an explosion near a Gaza hospital killed an unknown number of civilians. Palestinian authorities promptly blamed Israel, a lie that media outlets across the globe parroted until evidence the blast came from a misfired Hamas rocket became too overwhelming to ignore. (RELATED: Establishment Media Spread Hamas Lie About Israel Attacking Hospital)
Taken together, the episodes add a dangerous new element to the fighting in Gaza and deepen fears that Iran might foment violence in other parts of the Middle East, expanding the war in Israel and drawing in other countries. Most at risk would likely be the 2,500 American troops in Iraq, who are focused on advising Iraqi Security Forces, and 900 more in Syria, helping the Syrian Democratic Forces fight remnants of the Islamic State.
The U.S. has for months been beefing up its military presence in the region, dispatching thousands of Marines aboard several ships to the Persian Gulf over the summer and sending more F-35 fighter planes and A-10 attack aircraft to U.S. bases. Two of those ships are currently heading for the Eastern Mediterranean to bolster the growing American fleet off the coast of Israel, which will soon include two aircraft carriers and several destroyers.
Yet, Ryder emphasized on Thursday that the primary focus of the deployment was deterrence rather than aggression.
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