The current conflict in the Middle East is so dangerous that you 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 heightened tensions in the region follows a weekend drone attack on a US military post in Jordan by an Iranian-backed militant group that left three Army soldiers dead and 40 others wounded.
“I think it’s very important to note that this is a very volatile time in the Middle East,” Blinken told reporters during a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“I think that we haven’t seen a dangerous situation like the one we’re facing now across the region since at least 1973, and arguably before that,” he added, referring to the two-week Yom Kippur. War, when Israel fought off a surprise attack launched by Egyptian, Syrian, Saudi Arabian, Moroccan and Cuban forces on the holiest day of the year in Judaism.
Blinken argues that Middle East tensions are at a level not seen in more than 50 years. ZUMAPRESS.com Hamas attack on Oct. 7. 2023 on Israel occurs the day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War. Corbis/VCG via Getty Images
“And that is the environment in which we operate, and of course it was sparked by the horrific attack on October 7 by Hamas against innocent men, women and children,” Blinken said.
The secretary of state’s warning contrasts sharply with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s misguided analysis in a Foreign Policy magazine essay written shortly before Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on the Jewish state.
“Indeed, although the Middle East is still plagued by ongoing challenges, the region is calmer than it has been in 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 piece, which included an editor’s note explaining that the article was “updated to address the Hamas attack on Israel, which occurred after the print version of the article was published.”
“The Israeli-Palestinian situation is tense, especially in the West Bank, but in the face of serious friction, we have defused the crisis in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties after years of absence,” Sullivan wrote in another quote. edited from an online article.
More than 22,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian territories since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. REUTERS US troops in the Middle East have faced almost daily attacks by Iranian-backed militant groups since Israel’s declaration of war on Hamas. US NAVY/AFP via Getty Images
When Biden, 80, took over the presidency, “US troops were attacked regularly in Iraq and Syria,” the administration official also argued in an outdated print version, later adding, “Such attacks, at least for now, have largely stopped .”
Israel’s declaration of war against Hamas has sparked a wave of attacks on US troops in the Middle East by Iranian-backed militant groups.
Since Oct. 17 2023 The Pentagon has recorded 165 attacks on US personnel in the region – 66 in Iraq, 98 in Syria and Sunday’s deadly attack in Jordan.
About 80 US service members were injured in the attack.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
