(The Daily Caller News Foundation)—The drone that crashed into a base in Jordan and killed three U.S. service members evaded defenses by trailing a U.S.-operated drone that was returning to the base at the same time, Politico reported Monday, citing a Department of Defense (DOD) official.
The explosive-laden drone originated from somewhere in Iraq and exploded near the living quarters of Jordan’s Tower 22 base near the Syrian border, killing three U.S. troops and injuring at least 34, mostly reservists. About 90 minutes later, an enemy drone targeted the al-Tanf Garrison nearby in Syria, according to the DOD official and another U.S. official, Politico reported. But a U.S. counter-drone unmanned aerial system, Raytheon’s Coyote, shot it down, the DOD official said.
Tower 22 and the al-Tanf garrison are just miles apart. U.S. drones sometimes defend both, the U.S. official said, according to Politico.
Iran-backed militants saw an “opportunity” and “exploited” it, the DOD official told Politico, speaking anonymously to discuss the still-developing situation.
It was initially unclear how air defenses on base failed to shoot down the drone, and the Pentagon is still assessing the circumstances surrounding the incident. U.S. troops based in Iraq and Syria — and now Jordan for the first time — have faced rocket, drone and missile attacks more than 160 times since Oct. 17.
Troops on base may have confused the enemy drone closing in with a U.S. drone that was returning to base close to the same time, The Wall Street Journal first reported, citing U.S. officials. However, Politico’s response suggests the simultaneous arrival allowed the enemy drone to conceal itself from U.S. detection.
The drone originated in Iraq, according to the WSJ. So far, the U.S. doesn’t have proof that Iran directed the attack, a U.S. official told the outlet, and Tehran has denied any official involvement.
The attack signified a major escalation, resulting for the first time in U.S. service members killed. A Dec. 25 attack on a base in Iraq critically wounded a service member, who is recovering in the hospital and at least 70 U.S. troops had sustained minor or concussive wounds prior to Sunday.
President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure to respond to Sunday’s attack, according to Politico.
Biden called the attack “despicable and wholly unjust.”
“Three U.S. service members were killed — and many wounded — during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast Jordan near the Syria border,” Biden said. “While we are still gathering the facts of this attack, we know it was carried out by radical Iran-backed militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.”
Biden vowed to retaliate for the loss of these three service members.
“We will carry on their commitment to fight terrorism,” he said. “And have no doubt — we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner our choosing.”
U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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Independent Journalism Is Dying
Ever since President Trump’s miraculous victory, we’ve heard an incessant drumbeat about how legacy media is dying. This is true. The people have awakened to the reality that they’re being lied to by the self-proclaimed “Arbiters of Truth” for the sake of political expediency, corporate self-protection, and globalist ambitions.
But even as independent journalism rises to fill the void left by legacy media, there is still a huge challenge. Those at the top of independent media like Joe Rogan, Dan Bongino, and Tucker Carlson are thriving and rightly so. They have earned their audience and the financial rewards that come from it. They’ve taken risks and worked hard to get to where they are.
For “the rest of us,” legacy media and their proxies are making it exceptionally difficult to survive, let alone thrive. They still have a stranglehold over the “fact checkers” who have a dramatic impact on readership and viewership. YouTube, Facebook, and Google still stifle us. The freer speech platforms like Rumble and 𝕏 can only reward so many of their popular content creators. For independent journalists on the outside looking in, our only recourse is to rely on affiliates and sponsors.
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Independent media is the future. In many ways, that future is already here. While the phrase, “the more the merrier,” does not apply to this business because there are still some bad actors in the independent media field, there are many great ones that do not get nearly enough attention. We hope to change that one content creator at a time.
Thank you and God Bless,
JD Rucker
