I hope everyone who hooted and hollered about the brilliance of the Ukrainians using drones against Russian troops and assets will find it in themselves to experience a sober moment of reflection.

And prayer.

Because it’s our kids in uniform – in incredibly remote, unfriendly places – now being increasingly targeted.

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

So, first revelation to come out of this is that we’ve still got a couple bases left in Iraq. Thought we were gone, did ya?

Think again.

…The roughly 2,500 U.S. troops are scattered around the country, largely in military installations in Baghdad and in the north. And while it is a far cry from the more than 170,000 U.S. forces in Iraq at the peak of the war in 2007, U.S. officials say the limited — but continued — troop level is critical as a show of commitment to the region and a hedge against Iranian influence and weapons trafficking.

…The rise of the Islamic State group — its roots were in al-Qaida affiliates — and its expanding threat to the U.S. and allies across Europe sent the U.S. back into Iraq at the invitation of the Baghdad government in 2014. Over that summer and fall, the U.S.-led coalition launched airstrike campaigns in Iraq and then Syria, and restarted a broad effort to train and advise Iraq’s military.

The coalition’s train and advise mission has continued, bolstered by a NATO contingent, even after the Islamic State group’s campaign to create a caliphate was ended in March 2019.

The roughly 2,500 troops deployed to Iraq live on joint bases with Iraqi troops, where they provide training and equipment. That troop total, however, fluctuates a bit, and the Pentagon does not reveal the number of U.S. special operations forces that routinely move in and out of the country to assist Iraqi forces or travel into Syria for counterterrorism operations.

…U.S. troops in Iraq also provide critical logistical and other support for American forces in Syria, who partner with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces battling the Islamic State group. The U.S. conducts airstrikes and other missions targeting IS leaders, and also supports the SDF in guarding thousands of captured IS fighters and family members imprisoned in Syria.

We’ve got about 6500 contractors with them, and about 900 more of our troops in Syria, as well.

Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have been none too pleased with the continued American presence – as irritated as Iran is with it itself. Once the US waded into the Israeli-Gaza conflict firmly on the Israeli side, the rhetoric ratcheted up into threats against the American troop outposts and installations in Iraq and Syria.

…But Iranian-backed militias in Iraq have also threatened to attack U.S. facilities over American support for Israel.

“Our missiles, drones, and special forces are ready to direct qualitative strikes at the American enemy in its bases and disrupt its interests if it intervenes in this battle,” Ahmad “Abu Hussein” al-Hamidawi, head of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, said in a statement last Wednesday. He also threatened to launch missiles at Israeli targets.

Following Tuesday night’s blast that killed hundreds at a hospital in Gaza, the group issued another statement in which it blamed the U.S. and its support for Israel for the catastrophe and called for an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq. Hamas has said the explosion in Gaza was from an Israeli airstrike, while Israel has blamed a misfired rocket by Palestinian militants.

“These evil people must leave the country. Otherwise, they will taste the fire of hell in this world before the afterlife,” the statement said.

Yesterday, they took the first steps at acting on the threats…

US troops in Iraq fought off two drone attacks in one day, a sign that the fighting between Israel and Hamas could expand elsewhere in the region https://t.co/nfnat0B35F

— Task & Purpose (@TaskandPurpose) October 18, 2023

…by sending drones in two separate attacks against US air bases in western and northern Iraq. There was a CentCom press release confirming the attacks, which did result in injuries to troops on the ground, but -thankfully – none were serious.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

IRAQ – In the last 24 hours, the U.S. military defended against three drones near U.S. and Coalition forces in Iraq. In western Iraq, U.S. forces engaged two drones, destroying one and damaging the second, resulting in minor injuries to Coalition forces. Separately in northern Iraq, U.S. forces engaged and destroyed a drone, resulting in no injuries or damage. We are continuing to assess the impacts to operations.

The Iranians had issued one of their stock cryptic threats just prior to the first attacks.

…On Tuesday, Iran’s embassy in Damascus cryptically tweeted out the message “Time is up” – in a statement which portends a greater regional uprising aimed at the US and Israel. Indeed this is already happening to some degree especially inside Jordan and Lebanon.

Was this a feint or what they were referring to? Or the beginning of something wider?

It is as ugly a tribal snake pit as it ever was there.

…The drones targeted U.S. troops at two bases more than 200 miles apart: Al Asad Air Base in Western Iraq and Al-Harir Air Base in Northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, a U.S. official confirmed.

Tashkil al-Waritheen, an Iranian-backed militia, claimed responsibility for the drone attack on Al-Harir Air Base, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. Other groups backed by Iran said they were on high alert, but they had not received approval from Iran to launch attacks against U.S. forces in retaliation for American support for Israel.

Wednesday’s attacks indicate that the ongoing fighting between Israel and Hamas – which is backed by Iran – could spill over into Middle Eastern countries where American troops operate.

U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Syria to help prevent the Islamic State organization from reconstituting itself and recapturing territory. But American service members in both countries have also been pulled into a proxy war with Iran, which supports several militias in the region including Kata’ib Hezbollah.

How nice – Iran is holding off for the moment. Or was.

There were new drone attacks launched this morning against troops at a compound in a Syrian oil field.

BREAKING:

US occupation base in Conoco energy field in Syria’s Deir Ez Zor was targeted with a number of rockets, numerous reports.

Al-Tanf US occupation base in south of Syria is also under drone attacks. pic.twitter.com/MH2MR3Mwmc

— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) October 19, 2023

And again, minor injuries have been reported.

2 Drone Attacks against U.S. Forces in Syria are reportedly to have been Thwarted today following the Shoot Down of 3 Unknown Drones yesterday over Western Iraq; the First Attack occurred on the Base at Al-Tanf in Southern Syria near the Border with both Iraq and Jordan while…

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) October 19, 2023

… the First Attack occurred on the Base at Al-Tanf in Southern Syria near the Border with both Iraq and Jordan while the Second Attack was Targeted against the Conoco Forward-Operations Base in Northeastern Syria and resulted in Minor Injuries to U.S. Personnel.

The other militias are waiting around for either permission or their opportunity. They’re all so fragmented and hopelessly engaged in perpetual, deadly rivalries in their own rights – God knows how one keeps track or anticipates a move from any of them.

In fact, there had already been a fair amount of jaw-jacking out of the Iranians and local militias over the US presence at al-Tanf which had military higher-ups concerned – even before the Hamas massacre. The entire place is a powder keg of religious fanaticism, ethnic rivalries, and unrestrained egos.

Located in Syria on the Iraqi border and within miles of the Jordanian border, the U.S. garrison at al-Tanf has, since 2016, served as a launching point for counter-ISIS operations and training for Syrian opposition factions fighting the jihadist group. Iranian and Iran-backed forces are deployed in close proximity to the al-Tanf desert outpost, which sits on the strategically significant Baghdad-Damascus highway. U.S. forces in al-Tanf established a 55-km de-confliction zone, beyond which lie an array of forces described as either “pro-regime” or “Iran-backed” that have set up checkpoints in the area. Several incidents in recent months underscore al-Tanf’s potential as a flashpoint between U.S. and Iranian and/or Iran-backed forces.

With limited resources thanks to their isolation, all of these bases are vulnerable and medical facilities are by necessity bare bones. I’m pretty sure there’s lots of specialized stuff going on, so I’m not sure how deep the security posture is, even though, no doubt, what there is is robust.

It’s just that these drones will be an exhausting, 24/7 fight. I hope there are enough trained people for watching the walls so others can catch a breath – while the work at hand continues – God forbid things heat up.

Which it is sounding like…

…they well might be.

Remember those folks, OUR troops, out in the middle of nowhere in your prayers, would you?