United States does not want war with Iran. However, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has announced that they will take “all necessary steps” to protect their troops.
On Sunday (January 28) morning local time, there was a massive drone attack on a US military base near the Syrian border in the northwest of Jordan. Three US soldiers lost their lives. The day after the incident, on Monday (January 29), the Pentagon announced their identity. The victims were Kennedy Ladon Sanders (24), Briona Alexondria Moffett (23) and Sergeant William Jerome Rivers (46). All of them were serving in the 718th Engineer Company.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the Pentagon on Monday, “Let me start with my anger and sadness at the death of three brave American soldiers and the injuries of other soldiers in Jordan.
At the start of a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Pentagon, Austin said, “The President (Joe Biden) and I will not tolerate any attack on US forces and will take all steps necessary to protect our troops.”
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, as President Joe Biden said yesterday, we will respond and that response can be multi-layered, phased and over time.
But Biden administration officials say they don’t want to escalate the situation. The Pentagon has indicated that even Iran does not want war with the United States.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday, “We certainly don’t want war, and frankly, we don’t see that Iran wants to go to war with the United States either.”
He also said that the Pentagon believes that Iran itself does not want war.
“We are not seeking military conflict,” said John Kirby, the White House’s National Security Council strategic communications coordinator.
