(NewsNation) — Republicans in Washington are calling on the Biden administration to react with “greater force” against Iran after dozens of attacks have been reported on American troops throughout the Middle East over the past six weeks.
U.S. forces in the Middle East have faced ongoing attacks from military groups linked to Iran.
A source told NewsNation that over the last 40 days, U.S. troops in the region have come under attack twice per day on average.
Now, some lawmakers want to see more retaliation.
Since Oct. 17, there have been 73 attacks on U.S. soldiers in the region — half in Syria and half in Iraq, according to the defense source. Four of these attacks were conducted on Thanksgiving.
Most of the recent attacks involved drones, while one involved multiple rockets being fired at a support site in Syria. No injuries or damage to buildings were reported.
The U.S. has conducted multiple airstrikes over the last few weeks in direct retaliation for these attacks, targeting military groups linked to Iran — not Iran itself or Iranians operating in the region.
However, some lawmakers want to see President Joe Biden do more in response, while others have stood by the president, believing that counter-attacks could escalate the tension in the Middle East.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, accused the president of not choosing better targets and not wanting to cause Iranian casualties. Cotton believes the U.S. should directly target Iranians operating in Iraq and Syria.
“We’ve only hit back a few times. When we do hit back, it’s almost always at empty proxy warehouses or maybe proxy forces in Iraq and Syria. It seems like the president wants to go out of his way to avoid Iranian casualties,” Cotton said.
Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., warned of how escalating counter-attacks could lead to wider war breaking out in the Middle East.
“This administration is economically isolating Iran at the same time as they are building greater Arab cohesion with Israel through the Abraham Accords. Again, that is the thing Iran actually fears much more than a military strike from the United States is isolation,” Auchincloss said.
