Opinion | Iran Isn’t Impressed by U.S. Airstrikes

The war in the Middle East could still morph into a larger regional conflict, and the Biden Administration is calibrating its actions to manage that risk. But the confounding reality is that President Biden’s weak responses to attacks on U.S. forces aren’t deterring Iran and its proxies, which increases the risk of escalation.

The Pentagon said this week that Iranian proxies have attacked U.S. forces in the Middle East with drones or rockets 46 times since Oct. 17—some 24 times in Iraq and 22 more in Syria. Some 56 U.S. service members have been injured. The Pentagon is quick to stress that all have returned to duty, including those sent to Landstuhl in Germany for further evaluation. That’s good to hear, but troops have suffered traumatic brain injuries, in addition to more minor injuries such as shrapnel or perforated ear drums. These troops didn’t sign up to be repeated targets of enemy fire without the ability to respond in kind.