Middle East

Last week, The Stream warned that brave U.S. military forces serving in Iraq and Syria were in danger after Hamas terrorists brutally attacked Israel. This week, that prediction sadly came true.

NBC News reports that “at least two drones” attacked the Al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria, which houses hundreds of U.S. troops and contractors.

“The U.S. shot down one of the drones, the officials said, but the other struck the base, resulting in minor injuries among a small number of American troops,” NBC reported on Thursday, while adding that the U.S. military believes that “Iranian-backed militias” launched the attacks.

In neighboring Iraq, U.S. Central Command confirmed on Wednesday that three suicide drones had targeted U.S. military personnel in Iraq over the preceding 24 hours. Two were aimed at Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq while the other flew toward Al-Harir Air Base in the northern part of the country, near the city of Erbil.

According to CENTCOM, “U.S. forces engaged two drones, destroying one and damaging the second, resulting in minor injuries to coalition forces” in western Iraq. To the north, “U.S. forces engaged and destroyed a drone, resulting in no injuries or damage.”

Two military bases that house U.S. troops in Iraq were targeted with drone attacks on Wednesday. The Islamic Resistance, a group of Iranian-backed militias claimed responsibility for the attacks and threatened more to come. There were minor injuries to U.S. troops reported at the… pic.twitter.com/LOoayeqGOt

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 18, 2023

Citing two unnamed U.S. officials, Reuters reports that “some U.S. troops were being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury.” CBS News reports that “the Islamic Resistance, a group of Iranian-backed militias, claimed responsibility for the attacks and threatened more to come.”

Let me correct CBS and NBC News’ sanitized language. Like Hamas and Hezboallah, the Islamic Resistance is a terrorist group and proxy of Iran. The radical regime in Tehran wants to kill as many Americans and Jews as possible and will stop at nothing to accomplish their murderous mission. Even before Israel declared war on Hamas, the U.S. military was facing escalating attacks from these Iranian terrorist proxies.

Shouldn't it be a much bigger deal that terrorists backed by Iran launched 3 drone attacks on the US military yesterday in Iraq? "Some US troops were being evaluated for possible traumatic brain injury," according to @Reuters. Where's the outrage?

Please pray for the injured. 🇺🇸

— Tom Sileo (@TSileo) October 19, 2023

It is outrageous and appalling that even one of the approximately 3,400 American warriors serving in Iraq and Syria is now facing a new battle with traumatic brain injury. I am also deeply frustrated that much of the national media and political infrastructure in Washington keep downplaying or ignoring the sacrifices of valiant U.S. troops fighting terrorism in the Middle East. I seriously doubt much of the public is even aware that American forces are still in Iraq or Syria.

Most Americans definitely don’t know much about U.S. military activities off the coast of Yemen, where Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired missiles near a U.S. Navy warship on Thursday, according to CNN. Fortunately, “approximately 2-3 missiles were intercepted” by the USS Carney, a U.S. Navy destroyer. There were no reports of injuries on the warship as of Thursday afternoon.

As we pray for the injured and also the thousands of U.S. military personnel arriving in the Middle East to support Israel, let us also pledge to pay more attention to the daily burdens being shouldered by American service members and their families. To these heroes, we owe everything. Thank you for keeping us safe.

Coming Home

A group of U.S. Army soldiers were welcomed home to Travis Air Force Base in California on Sunday after completing a deployment to the Middle East.

U.S. Army soldiers lower their heads in prayer during a welcome home ceremony at the Delta Breeze Club on Travis Air Force Base in California on October 15, 2023.

Welcome home, heroes! Thank you for defending our freedom overseas.

Tom Sileo is a contributing senior editor of The Stream. He is the author of the forthcoming I Have Your Back, the recently released Be Bold and co-author of Three Wise Men, Brothers Forever, 8 Seconds of Courage and Fire in My Eyes. Follow Tom on X @TSileo and The Stream at @Streamdotorg.