Our Indefensible Mideast Military Outposts

The U.S. must strike back at those who attacked us. But we must do so aware that we have other soldiers sitting deep and poorly defended among hostiles.

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U.S. military vehicles travel in the northeastern city of Qamishli, Syria, in 2017.

Rodi Said/Reuters

Three Americans were killed on a spot of land just at the border of Jordan, Syria, and Iraq last weekend. Republican senators and congressmen, so anxious to portray Biden as weak and to call for a vigorous military response, have blown past the most basic questions about the incident, ones that make both the Trump and Biden administrations look utterly foolish and depravedly negligent.

Why did three Americans die in a desolate corner of northern Jordan, near the Iraqi border and just a stone’s throw from a U.S. military outpost in Syria at Al-Tanf? Why were they there? Who authorized the mission? Why were they so vulnerable? Who attacked them and with what weapons?

Michael Brendan Dougherty

About the Author

Michael Brendan Dougherty

Michael Brendan Dougherty is a senior writer at National Review Online.

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