The unusual mistake that led to the attack on a US base in Jordan that killed three soldiers

An enemy drone that killed three American soldiers and injured dozens at a base in Jordan was not shot down after it was apparently mistaken for an American drone returning to the facility, two Washington officials said Monday. Was.

Officials told various media outlets that preliminary reports suggest that another American drone was returning to Tower 22 while the enemy drone was flying at low altitude, which is why it may have accidentally hit the base. . As a result, no effort was made to bring it down.

The report’s preliminary findings were first published by the Wall Street Journal. The White House declined to comment on the finding.

During the attack, a trailer in which soldiers were sleeping came under attack, while nearby trailers suffered damage from the explosion and flying debris.

According to officials, most of the 34 injured soldiers had cuts, bruises, traumatic brain injuries and similar injuries. Eight of them were evacuated for medical reasons and the most seriously injured person is in critical but stable condition.

The base in Jordan began as an outpost protecting the border, and then saw an increased US presence following the entry of US troops into Syria in late 2015.

The small installation includes US engineering, aviation, logistics and security troops, with approximately 350 US Army and Air Force personnel deployed there.

The report’s findings were released around the same time the White House announced this Monday that it does not want war with Iran, even though President Joe Biden has promised to retaliate. The Democratic administration believes that Tehran was behind the attack.

Biden met with members of his national security team in the White House crisis room to discuss the latest developments.

The attack, which the US government attributes to militias under the protection of Iran, adds another level of complexity to an already tense situation in the Middle East, as Biden seeks to prevent the war between Israel and Hamas from turning into a wider regional conflict. trying. ,

“The President and I will not tolerate attacks against American forces and will take all necessary measures to defend the United States and our troops,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a meeting with the secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at the Pentagon on Monday. ” NATO), Jens Stoltenberg.

This weekend’s drone strike was one of dozens of attacks on US troops in the Middle East since Hamas launched attacks on Israel on October 7, sparking the war in Gaza, but it is the first in which they have killed US service members. Has killed.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby reiterated on Monday that the US does not want to get involved in another conflict in the Middle East.

Groups including Yemen’s Houthi rebels and Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah say the attacks are in response to Israeli military operations in Gaza.

“We don’t want a war with Iran. We’re not trying to escalate tensions that have already arisen,” Kirby told reporters. “That said, this is a very serious attack. It has had deadly consequences. We will respond, and we will respond appropriately.”

It took almost two days for Iran to break its silence after the attack. This Monday, Iranian officials denied being behind the Jordanian attack.

Iran’s official news agency IRNA, quoting Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanani, told about the attack in which Iran has been accused of being behind it.

“These claims are made for specific political purposes to subvert the realities of the region,” he said.

For its part, Iraq’s government condemned the drone strike in an apparent attempt to distance itself from a possible attack by Iranian-backed militias, which have a strong presence inside Iraq.

Republicans have blamed Biden for doing too little to stop Iranian militias, who have carried out at least 150 attacks on US troops in the region since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

On Sunday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump called the attack “another terrible and tragic consequence of Joe Biden’s weakness and capitulation.”

John Bolton, who served as Trump’s national security adviser, said Iran has not paid the price for the havoc wreaked by its allies in the region.

He suggested the Biden administration could send a strong message to Tehran with strikes on Iranian ships in the Red Sea, Iranian air defenses on the Iraqi border and targets that have been used for years to train and supply terrorist groups Is.

“You can’t restore deterrence, you can’t de-escalate the war until Iran pays for its actions,” he said.

The attack in Jordan came as US officials saw signs of progress in talks toward a deal between Israel and Hamas to release more than 100 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a long-term pause in fighting.

Senior US, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials held talks in France on Sunday about a new framework for a hostage deal. Israel said “major shortcomings” remained, but described the talks as constructive and said they would continue next week.