White House says it respond after deadly drone strike attack in Jordan
Three U.S. service members were killed and 34 were injured during a drone strike at a base in Jordan.
President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he had made a decision on how to respond to the recent attack at a military base in Jordan that killed three U.S. troops and wounded 25 others.
Asked if he holds Iran responsible, Biden said: “I do hold them responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it.”
Biden spoke to reporters on the White House South Lawn before heading to Palm Beach, Florida, for a fundraiser.
The president’s remarks follow a vow he made on the day of the attack to take swift action to deal with the attacks. “We shall respond,” he said Sunday.
Biden blamed the unmanned aerial drone attack on the troops stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border on “radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.”
He vowed to “hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.”
In his remarks on Tuesday, Biden did not reveal any specifics about what the response will look like.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Tuesday said he was not in the position today to confirm exactly which militant group was responsible for the attack.
“We’re still working through the analysis, but clearly the work has all the hallmarks of groups that are backed by the IRGC and, and in fact by Hezbollah as well,” he said.
The three American troops were the first to be killed by enemy fire in the Middle East since Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, igniting the war that has led to more than 26,000 Palestinian deaths in Gaza.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a statement, also vowed retaliation.
Meanwhile, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott of South Carolina and Tom Cotton of Arkansas quickly blamed Biden for the tragedy and joined Sen. John Cornyn of Texas in calling for a military strike on Iran.
Former President Donald Trump, the leading GOP presidential contender, blamed Biden for the attack on Truth Social.
“This brazen attack on the United States is yet another horrific and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and surrender….,” he wrote.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is a White House Correspondent focusing on the economy for USA TODAY. You can follow her on X @SwapnaVenugopal
David Turner is a globe-trotting journalist who brings a global perspective to our readers. With a commitment to shedding light on international events, he explores complex geopolitical issues, offering a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
