U.S. military shoots down Turkish drone in Syria
Washington PostOct 02, 2023
The Facts
According to the Pentagon, the US targeted two facilities linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iranian-backed militias in eastern Syria on Thursday. The strikes come amid growing concerns that the Israel-Hamas conflict risks spreading throughout the Middle East.
The Pentagon announced that two US Air Force F-16 fighter jets attacked a weapons storage facility and an ammunition depot near Abu Kamal, bordering Iraq, with "precision self-defense strikes." Senior Pentagon officials claim it was a response to a string of recent Iranian-backed attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
The US has the right to self-defense if its forces fighting the Islamic State are attacked by Iranian-backed militias. The US delivered surgical strikes, and there is no doubt that the Iranian regime is the lynchpin for the ongoing attacks on US forces in the region. The Ayatollah in Tehran must understand that the American people will not tolerate an escalation of the attacks, which threaten to destabilize the entire region. Washington wants to prevent a widening of Hamas' war against Israel, and hopefully, the regime has gotten the message.
Establishment-critical narrative
While the US repeatedly refers to its right to self-defense, it blatantly ignores the Palestinians' right to self-defense and staunchly backs the Israeli regime's outrageous collective punishment campaign against the people of Gaza. It's absurd to assume that the resistance forces will stand idly by as the West refuses to call for a ceasefire and while Washington vetoes draft UN resolutions to end the war. Washington, not Tehran, is fueling the conflict, and Iran will continue to support the Palestinian right to freedom.
