Striking Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah forces in Syria near the Iraqi border, the U.S. retaliated for the Feb. 16 attack on K1 Kurdish-U.S. base near Kirkuk in Northern Iraq, killing one civilian contractor and injuring eight others. “We are outraged by today’s rocket attack in the Iraqi Kurdistan region,” said Secretary of State Tony Blinken Feb. 16, hinting at possible retaliation. Retaliating today, 78-year-old President Joe Biden took the advice of 67-year-old Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, hoping to send a message to Tehran, which supplies arms and cash to Kataib Hezbollah in Syria. Kataib Hezbollah was avenging the Jan. 3, 2020 predator drone assassination of 62-year-old Kataib Hezbollah Chief Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandris. Today’s air strike poses problems for the Biden administration that hopes to reinstate the July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] with Iran.
Iran’s 81-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continues to violate the uranium enrichment limits specified in the JCPOA, claiming all bets are off since 74-year-old former President Donald Trump pulled out of the Iranian Nuke Deal May 8, 2018. Former U.S. P5+1 partners, including U.K., France, Russia, China and Germany, tried to keep the JCPOA intact but the Ayatollah gave a green light to ramp up nuclear enrichment to 20%, far below weapons grade at 60%, but a step below it, knowing it’s something the U.S. thinks about. Biden campaigned on a promise to reverse all of Trump’s actions over the last four years, including rejoining the JCPOA, something that looks less likely now that the U.S. struck Kataib Hezbollah in Syria. With Russian President Vladimir Putin backing Kataib Hezbollah operations in Syria, it’s going to make U.S.-Russian cooperation even more difficult.
Attacking Kataib Hezbollah was Biden’s way of reaffirming his commitment to the Iraqi and Syrian Kurds with whom Trump had a falling out Oct. 7, 2019, when Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan announced he was moving his forces into Syrian Kurdistan. Trump chose to keep U.S. advisers out of harms way, at a time the Kurds needed U.S. support. Edogan with Russian help, pushed the Kurds away from the Turkish border, something Turkey insisted on since Erdogan sees all Kurds as mortal enemies of Turkey. Syria’s PKK militia were strong allies of the U.S. battling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS], eventually ousting ISIS from Kirkuk and Mosul, Syria Oct. 23, 2019. Russia, Turkey and Iran are allied with Kataib-Hezbollah, won’t be happy with U.S. air strikes. Retaliating against Kataib-Hezbollah, Israel also appreciate U.S. support.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin didn’t expect a wider escalation after striking specific Shiite targets near the Iraq border. “I’m confident in the target that we went after, we know what we hit,” Austin told reporters. “We’re confident that that target being used by the same Shia militants that conducted the strikes,” Austin said, referring to the attack on the joint U.S.-Kurdish base in Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Biden has a real problem with Erdogan who spent considerable military resources retaliating against the Kurds, who, almost single-handedly, got rid of ISIS from Kirkuk and Mosul. Iran and Russia are closely aligned with Kataib-Hezbollah that staged many joint missions to protect Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from an eight-year assault by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. Eight years of proxy war to oust al-Assad caused 500,000 deaths and displaced 12 million Syrians.
Austin mentioned nothing about Kataib Hezbollah avenging the death of their leader Abu Mahid al-Muahandris in a U.S. predator drone attacked that killed Iraninan Al-Qud’s leader Qassem Soleimani. Iran’s Supreme Leader still hasn’t avenged the death of Soleimani, avoiding confrontation with Trump. Now that Biden’s in charge, Iran could take additional steps to avenge Soleimani’s death. “We said a number of times that we will respond on our timeline,” Austin said. Trump intimidated Iran, prompting the Ayatollah to show more restraint, against attacking a U.S.-Kurdish military base. “We wanted to be sure of the connectivity and we wanted to be sure that we had the right targets,” Austin said, going after Kataib Hezbollah, knowing that it might impact Iran’s willingness to stop breaching uranium enrichment limits under the JCPOA, a concern to the Biden State Department.
Whatever Kataib Hezbollah targets Austin hit near the Iraqi border, the Iranian-backed militia will find more ways to retaliate against U.S. interests. Iran knows that there’s no stomach in the U.S. for returning to war in Syria or Iraq. “The operation sends an unambiguous message: President Biden will act to protect American and coalition personnel,” said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. “At the same time, we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims to deescalate the overall situation in eastern Syria and Iraq,” said Kirby. How air strikes “aims to deescalate” hostilities near the Syrian and Iraq borders, Kirby doesn’t see the linkage between Iran’s proxy war with Yemen. Iran isn’t likely to back down, knowing that the U.S. went after its Kataib Hezbollah militia. Biden wasn’t happy when his proxy war to oust al-Assad blew up in former President Barack Obama’s face.
