The current conflict in the Middle East is so dangerous that you would have to go back more than 50 years to find a more dangerous time for the region, Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned on Monday.
Blinken’s assessment of escalating tensions in the region comes in the wake of a weekend drone attack on a U.S. military post in Jordan by an Iran-backed militant group that left three Army soldiers dead and others 40 injured.
“I think it’s very important to note that we are in an incredibly volatile time in the Middle East,” Blinken told reporters during a news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“I would say we have not seen a situation as dangerous as the one we now face across the region since at least 1973, and possibly even earlier,” he added, referring to the two-week-long Yom Kippur. War, when Israel fought off a surprise attack launched by Egyptian, Syrian, Saudi, Moroccan and Cuban forces on the holiest day of the year for Judaism.
Blinken argued that tensions in the Middle East are at a level not seen in more than 50 years. ZUMAPRESS.com The October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel came one day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
“And that is the environment in which we are operating and, of course, it was triggered by the horrific attacks on October 7 by Hamas against innocent men, women and children,” Blinken said.
The secretary of state’s warning stands in stark contrast to national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s erroneous analysis in a Foreign Policy magazine essay written just before Hamas’ attack on the Jewish state on October 7, 2023.
“Indeed, although the Middle East remains beset by perennial challenges, the region is calmer than it has been for decades,” Sullivan wrote in a section of his essay published after the Hamas attack on Israel.
The line was removed from the online version of the article, which included an editor’s note explaining that the article “was updated to address Hamas’ attack on Israel, which occurred after the print version of the article went to press.”
“The Israeli-Palestinian situation is tense, particularly in the West Bank, but in the face of serious friction, we have de-escalated the crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties after years of its absence,” Sullivan wrote in another passage. edited from online article.
More than 22,000 people have been killed in Palestinian territory since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. REUTERS US forces in the Middle East have faced almost daily attacks by Iranian-backed militant groups since Israel’s declaration of war against Hamas. US NAVY/AFP via Getty Images
When Biden, 80, took office, “U.S. troops were under regular attack in Iraq and Syria,” the administration official also argued in the outdated print version, later adding: “Those attacks, at least for now , have largely ceased.”
Israel’s declaration of war against Hamas has triggered a wave of attacks on US troops in the Middle East by Iranian-backed militant groups.
Since October 17, 2023, the Pentagon has recorded 165 attacks against US personnel in the region: 66 in Iraq, 98 in Syria and Sunday’s deadly attack in Jordan.
Approximately 80 US service members have been injured as a result of the attacks.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn