As Gaza burns, the US is at war with Iran’s other proxies—in Syria

(Originally published Nov. 13 in “What in the World“) The war in Gaza has spread to Syria, where U.S. forces are engaged in a tit-or-tat campaign of reprisals against militias backed by Iran.

U.S. forces launched a third round of air strikes Sunday against Iran-backed militias there to retaliate for what the Pentagon says is near-daily attacks against U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq.

The air strikes followed a drone attack last week against a U.S. military barracks at Erbil air base in northern Iraq. Though laden with explosives, the drone landed harmlessly. The Pentagon says militias have launched more than 40 attacks against U.S. forces in the two countries since Israel launched its war against Hamas in Gaza.

The failed drone attack came after an air strike by two U.S. F-15 fighter jets that destroyed a weapons depot in Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the militias and similar U.S. air strikes on Oct. 26 against weapons sites in eastern Syria.

Washington keeps hoping (the Pentagon’s fingers crossed firmly behind its back) that air strikes will deter retaliation by the militias. Keep dreaming.

Concerns are now mounting that U.S. naval forces gathered in the eastern Mediterranean could face attack by Iran-backed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has reportedly acquired Russian anti-ship missiles and its leader warned last week that it had something planned for the U.S. Navy. Washington has positioned two aircraft carrier groups, the USS Gerald R. Ford and the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the waters off Israel.

Hezbollah hasn’t made any claims yet about an MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed last Friday in the eastern Mediterranean. The Pentagon said the Black Hawk was on a routine training mission off Cyprus when it crashed, killing five members of the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, which transports commandos into and out of clandestine operations. That explanation would hold more water if “routine training mission” wasn’t the cover story for every KIA covert commando the military ever loses behind enemy lines. The Pentagon has already deployed several dozen special forces to Israel to help locate hostages seized during Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion from Gaza.

Russia continues to clear its throat for another winter barrage of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. Ukraine said it shot down a Russian ballistic missile aimed at Kyiv, the first time Russia has targeted the capital in weeks. The new missile launches accompany Ukraine’s failed spring/summer counteroffensive to cut the land bridge to Russian-held Crimea, while Russian forces try to push regain territory in eastern Donestsk province. Neither, however, appears able to break what has become a stubborn stalemate.