The Middle East is reaching a boiling point — one America cannot ignore.
US military forces are under attack by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-trained militias in Syria, Iraq and the Red Sea, and it’s going to get worse: Intelligence officials report Iran plans to take advantage of anger in the region over America’s support for Israel to ramp up its proxy strikes.
President Joe Biden needs to acknowledge the West is at war.
Passive defense is no longer enough. Not when US troops are in harm’s way.
The Pentagon has tracked at least 27 attacks on US forces in the region since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre.
Iran-backed militias struck the US Harir air base in northern Iraq and the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq with drones.
Houthi rebels launched missiles from Yemen toward Israel that the USS Carney intercepted over the Red Sea.
Two dozen American soldiers have been injured, many suffering traumatic brain injuries; one US contractor died from cardiac arrest.
Washington should have learned the bloody lesson 40 years ago in Lebanon.
In 1983, 241 US servicemembers died after an Iran-backed suicide bomber drove a truck unimpeded into the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.
Peacekeeping rules of engagement delayed the Marine guards from firing — their weapons weren’t loaded.
A significant number of US servicemen and -women are stationed throughout the Mideast and Eastern Mediterranean.
The Pentagon has deployed two carrier strike groups to the region, the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, along with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit consisting of the USS Bataan, USS Mesa Verde and USS Carter Hall.
The Pentagon also ordered the Blue Ridge-class command-and-control ship USS Mount Whitney to the region in a show of force. Other assets include F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16s and A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft.
And it dispatched Terminal High Altitude Area Defense integrated missile-defense systems to Israel to provide an additional layer of air defense against short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
The US armada is assembled, but what is its mission other than creating a rich target environment for Iran’s IRGC and sundry affiliated jihadist militias?
If we take Iran at its word — as we must — America needs to assume a posture of “active defense.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian essentially threatened us right in New York, telling the UN Security Council that America will “not be spared from this fire.”
Iran is betting Biden will not heed this message or, if he does, just order more strikes against “empty buildings,” as former US Army intelligence officer Michael Pregent puts it.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is counting on the president remaining in a static defensive mode out of a fear of escalation — the same “escalation paralysis” that gripped Biden in Ukraine.
Biden must accept the Middle East is today’s Ground Zero.
He and his administration can no longer wait to act and allow US forces to see the military equivalent of 9/11 in the Mediterranean and/or around the region.
Iran must be put in the crosshairs — especially the IRGC.
Passive defense will not deter Khamenei and his Revolutionary Guards.
Washington must deploy an active defense immediately.
Iran understands a bloody nose.
In January 2020, Washington launched an airstrike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the 62-year-old general who commanded the IRGC.
He was in Iraq developing plans to attack American diplomats and military members throughout the Middle East.
It is time Tehran relearns the lesson.
US military bases on the receiving end of kinetic rocket, drone and missile strikes by IRGC-backed militias need to get back to the business of an active defense.
They must add, as the Pentagon defines it, “employment of limited offensive actions and counterattacks to deny a contested area or position to the enemy.”
This requires expanding the defensive perimeter, active patrolling, engagement with local nations and forward positioning robust intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to identify and target IRGC threats before they attack.
Commanders on the ground must be provisioned with the means to strike IRGC targets — and existing theater rules of engagement must be adjusted to enable preemptive strikes.
Waiting for the IRGC or Iran-backed enemies to attack is not an acceptable course of action.
American forces are vulnerable.
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Every remote base throughout the Mideast manned by US forces should be equipped with passive and active weapon systems and sensors providing superior reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition support.
The US Army-developed C-RAM (Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar) Centurion Weapon System provides invaluable force protection coverage and is designed to be interoperable with other protection sensors and systems.
Coupled with surveillance and extended range Switchback 600 loitering drones, US forces could then focus on intercepting drones, inbound rockets and mortar fires while pinpointing the launch locations of IRGC and Iran-backed-militia weapon systems with their crews.
Removing them from the battlefield eliminates the threat and would send Tehran a strong message.
It is beyond time for the Biden administration to establish a red line — and then back it up with US forces already in the region.
Iran must be held accountable for the deaths of American citizens Oct. 7, the fate of American hostages Hamas holds in Gaza and for any proxy attacks on US military bases throughout the Mideast.
Khamenei and the IRGC must know they are in the crosshairs.
Washington must respond kinetically to eliminate the threat — not after the fact.
The response cannot be limited to Israel, Syria or Iraq.
The Pentagon’s calculus must include IRGC bases in Iran.
There can be no quarter and no sanctuary. Tehran must fear and feel America’s active defense.
Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet served 30 years as a military intelligence officer. Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy.
