As the
Israel-Hamas war rages
into a second month,
the US is stepping up its activities
across the Middle East,
sending a fierce warning
to any non-state actor
who might try to expand the conflict
into a broader regional war in Syria.
U.S.
fighter jets launched an air
strike on a weapons
storage facility
used by Iran's Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The goal
to prevent Iran's proxies
from carrying out further attacks on U.S.
interests in the region.
This target last night
was a weapons ammunition
storage facility.
So we know
that it had a practical impact
on their ability to arm these groups,
but also to send
a strong signal of deterrence
these groups have a choice to make.
They want to continue to attack
our troops in Iraq and Syria.
Then they're going to have to face
the consequences for that.
Right.
And those Iranian backed militia that Mr.
Kirby that just mentioned
have attacked U.S.
troops and American assets
in both Syria and Iraq.
A staggering 41 times since October 17th
and on Wednesday, Houthi
rebels, also backed by Iran, by the way,
shot down an unarmed U.S.
military drone off Yemen's coast,
according to a defense official.
This follows
the US intercepting Houthi
cruise missiles and drones
headed for Israel.
CNN national security reporter
Portia Bertrand is there.
Natasha, tell us more about this strike
force to F-15 fighter
jets launched this airstrike
on a weapons storage facility that U.S.
officials say
was being used by Iran's
Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corps as well.
As its proxy groups
to launch attacks on U.S.
forces in the region over recent weeks.
And there have been
about 40 such attacks
by these Iran backed groups.
Against U.S.
and coalition bases
in Iraq and Syria since October. 17th.
And this was a way
for the US
to retaliate
against those attacks,
as well as to try to degrade
that Iranian infrastructure that they say
is allowing these groups to continue
carrying out these attacks.
Now, according to Austin,
in his statement last night,
he emphasized that this was a limited
self-defense strike
and that he does not want to see in
the U.S.
writ large, does not want to see this
conflict escalate any further.
He urged against any further escalation
by these groups
and defense officials
revealed last night
that they have actually been
in touch with Iran directly
to communicate to them
that they expect Iran
to stay out of this conflict
and to rein in those proxy groups.
And so this was a limited,
according to the Pentagon
Self-defense Act,
and they were questioned very
repeatedly by the Pentagon press corps
about how sustainable this is,
because the Iran backed groups,
they have continued
launching these attacks
in recent weeks,
even after the US has launched
these airstrikes
on these ammunition and weapons depots.
And so it remains to be seen
whether this really has
any deterrent effect for us.
And notably, Natasha,
this also comes on the heels of another
Iranian backed
group of Houthi forces in Yemen shooting
down an unmanned US military drone.
Bring us up to speed on that.
Yes.
So this
happened over the Red Sea yesterday.
An unmanned
MQ nine Reaper drone
conducting surveillance activity
in the region
it was shot down by Houthi rebels
and they are backed,
as you said, by Iran.
They operate in Yemen
and the US is investigating.
CENTCOM is investigating the incident
but this comes
just a few weeks after a U.S.
Navy warship intercepted
several missiles and drones
by these same hoochie backed forces
that were launched
and according to the Pentagon,
they were headed towards Israel.
And the US, as you can see,
is taking a kind
of a more active effort here
to try to intercept
all of these attacks
by these Iran backed groups
in the region towards
Israel and towards U.S. forces.
And that is contributing
to the major concern here
that this conflict could escalate
and spiral out of control,
something that the US
is communicating to the
Iranians as well as other
people in the region
that they do not want to see.
And that is,
of course, why they have placed
all of that
military hardware in the region,
including those carrier
strike group, Cerberus.
Natasha Bertrand from the Pentagon,
thanks so much.
Joining us now
to continue
the conversation is retired U.S.
Army Major Mike Lyons, Major
Thank you for being here today.
Good to see you.
It's zero.
I want to start, Major,
with something John
Kirby said earlier this morning
and get your reaction to it.
Take a listen
This target last night was a weapons
ammunition storage facility.
So we know
that it had a practical impact
on their ability to arm these groups,
but also to send a strong
signal of deterrence.
These groups have a choice to make.
They want to continue to attack
our troops in Iraq and Syria.
Then they're going to have to face the
consequences for that
So, Major, just your response to that?
I mean, do you agree
and do you think that this attack
is sending
a strong message of deterrence?
Because we continue to see
these incidents
Well, first, I think it's about time.
We've had these attacks going on
for the last few weeks.
There's always been 41 of them
that have taken place already
and frankly,
I think this administration
has a deterrence credibility problem.
I think they just feel
that visible assets in
the region are going to be enough.
And then, frankly,
attacking a weapons cachet
in the middle of the desert
and not going after
the individuals responsible,
it sends another message that,
you know, the Middle East is awash
in weapons.
There's there's thousands
of these kinds of targets
that are out there.
So frankly, I don't think it's enough.
I think we need to decide
whether we're going
to keep our troops there
and protect them.
And if we're not, then
just get them out of their butt.
But but again, it's a response.
It's well, it's long overdue.
And we have to see
what's going going to happen
going forward.
I'm just
I don't think it's going to stop them.
I think we're going to have to escalate
and go
after some of the leaders of these groups
as opposed to just going
after the equipment that they carry.
And what might that look like?
I mean, is that actually more
of these airstrikes
or is there something in between
Well,
airstrikes create
challenges logistically.
God forbid we lose a plane.
I mean, from an operational perspective,
it's it's somewhat of a risk.
We have other assets that we could use.
We could use drones.
We could do the same thing
that they're doing to our soldiers.
So there's other ways to engage.
I think the enemy here in this
in this particular theater
I understand, again, deterrence.
You have to have it.
And what we have in the Mediterranean
and now in the Red
Sea is important, provides
an umbrella for Israel
as it's trying to protect itself.
We've got rockets coming in from
from Yemen.
We've got rockets coming in
from all kinds of locations
that we're going to help
the Israelis with.
But from a deterrence perspective
for our U.S.
troops inside of Syria and Iraq,
we just have to do a better job.
We just heard Alex
there say Alex
Marquardt say that the U.S.
says that it's communicating
directly with Iran
about these heightened tensions
in the Middle East.
Major, how significant is that
Well, I
mean, direct talks with Iran don't
really go very far sometimes.
I mean, they look at it as amounts
to finger wagging.
This morning,
I did see the Iranian ambassador
to the United Nations on CNN,
and he said a lot of interesting things
that Iran doesn't really control.
These these militia groups,
that it's possible
it's possible that there are
they're far away from their flagpole,
but they know what Iran's intent
is, that's for sure.
And that's really what
the military operates off of.
Is that the intent of what
the Iranians want?
We just have to see.
Going forward,
I think we made the strikes.
We'll see what happens.
I know the administration
does not want to escalate.
I understand that.
But but again, deterrence only matters
if it actually works.
It's failed in Ukraine.
It failed in Israel.
And if and if we don't make sure that
these enemy soldiers stop attacking U.S.
forces,
then I'm afraid that we're
we're not going to look like
we're we're true to our word as well.
Major, was it significant to you
that the US notified
not just Iran,
putting Iran on notice,
but also notifying Russia
through this establish
sort of deconfliction channel
regarding its airstrikes?
Is that sort of par for the course
or did that get your attention
No, it did.
I think that there's
this alliance
that's been created out in the world
between, you know,
Russia, Hamas, terrorist
organizations, Iran, North Korea,
and on that potentially China there.
China is still trying to figure out
what side
they're taking in this conflict.
They're threading the needle,
so to speak.
And but the world is becoming much more
you know, polarized again
into into spheres.
Russia doesn't have a lot of capability.
Now, if they weren't involved in Ukraine,
perhaps they might get more involved.
But they're kind of on the sidelines.
They've got their hands full right now
with Ukraine.
So, again,
it just gets back to deterrence,
whether or not, you know,
we need to be willing to pull the trigger
if we if we determine
that we have a good target
and we know that
the attacks have been made on Americans
and we know that it will really impact
the military again.
The Middle East is a wash in weapons
caches like that one that was targeted.
It's going to take more
than just hitting one of them for
them to change their minds.