“Let's let our Iraqi partners investigate this, see what they learn, and then if a response is warranted, I think we have shown clearly ... that we won't shy away from that. But we're just not there yet.”
Pentagon Press Sec. John Kirby on a rocket attack at a U.S. base that led to the cardiac arrest and death of a U.S. contractor.
Published on
mar 5, 2021
No group has taken responsibility for the attack that happened in the early morning Wednesday March 3.
- Iranian-backed militias targeted the same base about a year ago – leading to multiple injuries of U.S. soldiers.
- A U.S. contractor taking cover in a bunker had a “cardiac episode” that led to his death.
- 10 rockets were fired with reports half were intercepted by a missile defense system.
- The attack follows some significant back-n-forth.
- Rockets hit an American position in Iraq mid-February in Irbil, Iraq – an Iranian-back militia took responsibility though Iran denied support.
- America responded by hitting an Iranian target in Syria about a week later.
- Days after, a rocket attack hit at U.S. base in Iraq, occupied by about 2,000 U.S. soldiers.
- Why It Matters: The simmering tension in the Middle East threatens a larger conflict as Pres. Biden issued this warning: “We’re identifying who’s responsible, and we’ll make judgments from that point.”