A Washington Post report published on Sunday said that some Defense Department officials are frustrated by a lack of a coherent strategy by President Biden to counter the attacks on US forces in the Middle East by Iranian proxies.

The limited retaliatory airstrikes approved by the President have done nothing to deter further attacks.

“There’s no clear definition of what we are trying to deter,” said one defense official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Are we trying to deter future Iranian attacks like this? Well, that’s clearly not working.”

According to the report, there have been 61 attacks on US troops since October 7th, and US troops in Iraq and Syria have been attacked on an almost daily basis in the past month.

Biden authorized three rounds of airstrikes in response to all 61 attacks, all in eastern Syria. However, the US airstrikes did nothing to slow the Iranian-sponsored attacks, which resumed almost immediately.

A senior defense official told the Post that there is increasing doubt about the current approach among defense officials.

“I don’t sense any deterrence,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. “They keep shooting, waiting for us to respond. We don’t, so they keep shooting. And eventually one of those drones, or one of those missiles or rockets, is going to kill an American. And then we’ll be off to the races.”

“I’m not suggesting we start a full-fledged war with Tehran,” he added. “But I do think our posture has to be a little more aggressive than just strictly defensive, because one of these days, we’re going to miss one of those drones.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)