On the night of February 26, the United States of America launched air strikes on Syrian territory.
The attack was authorized by US President Joe Biden.
According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, the target was the infrastructure used by Iran-backed paramilitary groups in eastern Syria.
In particular, a number of facilities at the border control point with Iraq were destroyed, which, according to the US military, were used by members of Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
The airstrikes were in response to recent attacks against US and international coalition troops in Iraq, he said.
“This commensurate military response was carried out along with diplomatic measures, including consultations with coalition partners.
The operation sends a clear message that President Biden will protect US and coalition troops, ”Kirby said.
He explained that the actions taken were aimed at de-escalating the general situation in both eastern Syria and Iraq.
After that, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that the US military attacked, relying on intelligence received from Iraq.
"We are confident that the target was used by the same Shiite militia," he said, stressing that the United States "knows exactly where they hit."
Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin
Reuters
© Carlos Barria
As noted by the Bloomberg agency, an F-15 fighter was used to strike.
Sources of the newspaper The New York Times at the same time report on the confidence of the American military that several members of the Shiite militant formations were killed.
The Washington Post, citing a source in the presidential administration, also writes about the deaths of several people.
On February 15, a missile attack hit the area of Erbil airport, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, where a US military base is stationed.
The shelling killed one US citizen and injured nine others, including one American soldier.
After that, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Washington is investigating the incident and reserves to itself "for a response in due time and in the proper form": "Before we take any additional steps, we will make additional announcements." ...
In turn, the head of the press service of the State Department Ned Price said that the United States will not announce retaliatory measures in advance.
"Of course, we are not going to announce our response in advance, but it is fair to say that any group behind this attack will face consequences," he said.
Against this background, NATO defense ministers decided to increase the alliance's mission in Iraq by eight times - from 500 to 4 thousand people.
At the same time, on February 22, the "green" zone of Baghdad, where state institutions and foreign diplomatic missions, including the US embassy, were located, came under rocket fire.
At least three rockets were fired.
The Pentagon stressed that, together with the Iraqi authorities, they are studying "the specifics of these attacks."
“We will not vent our anger and risk an escalation that plays into the hands of Iran and only contributes to their efforts to destabilize Iraq,” Price explained.
The topic of rocket attacks was also the subject of a telephone conversation between Biden and Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazim on February 24.
"Violation of international law"
The United States committed an act of aggression that violates all the principles of international law, Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, said in a conversation with RT.
“Two moments amaze me most of all: it is the absolute routine of this event, openness and cynicism.
That is, the United States is inflicting a military strike on the territory of a sovereign state, they explain it by certain actions that were committed by a third state on the territory of a fourth state, I mean Iran and Iraq.
The United States is delivering a military blow, not at all hiding, without trying to justify itself and considering itself entitled to use military force against a sovereign state, ”he said.
According to him, the incident is "a gross violation of international law."
“To be honest, I do not know of any other country that would have so shamelessly violated the norms of international law, like the United States, inflicting military strikes on the territory of other countries.
Absolutely nothing changes over time and with a change of administration.
Of course, I think that the world community should react to this in an appropriate way, it would be nice if every such action by the United States became the subject of close consideration in the UN General Assembly, in the UN Security Council, ”Shapovalov emphasized.
Rep. Ro Hannah, Democrat, criticized Washington's decision to strike at Syria, noting that Joe Biden became the fifth consecutive president to order attacks on targets in the Middle East.
“It is completely unjustifiable for a president to order a military strike that is not an act of self-defense in the face of an imminent threat without the approval of Congress.
We need to leave the Middle East, and not provoke an escalation (tensions -
RT
), - said the congressman, whose words are quoted by CNN.
"The president should not take such measures without asking for direct authorization (from the US Congress
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) and relying on general, outdated laws on the use of military force."
According to Vladimir Dzhabarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, a US strike on Syria could lead to an escalation of the situation in the entire Middle East region.
At the same time, he also indicated that Damascus "has every right" to submit an appeal to the UN Security Council to discuss what happened at an emergency meeting.
“This is completely inappropriate, since we are talking about the bombing of the territory of a sovereign state,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.