Top intelligence Republicans say US should NOT involve military in Israel counterattack yet – but warns Biden if he ‘fails to step up to the plate’, there will be wider conflict with Iran
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) agrees that the United States should not yet intervene in conflict with Iran after it launched hundreds of missiles at Israel since Saturday.
However, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee warned President Joe Biden against waiting too long to ‘step up to the plate’ in the region because it could lead to greater conflict.
He told NBC News host Kristen Welker on Sunday that the Biden administration needs to make it more clear to Iran that there will be severe consequences from the United States if it continues to launch attacks against Israel.
So far, Biden and his national security and defense officials have reiterated ‘ironclad’ support for Israel’s defense against attack. But the administration has distanced itself from involvement in any Israeli counterattack against Iran.
“I do not believe at this time that the United States should be engaged in military action directly against Iran,” said Rep. Turner in his Meet the Press interview.
House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner said Sunday he agrees the United States should not yet get involved in military action against Iran after its attack on Israel over the weekend
Iran and other Middle Eastern proxies have launched at least 200 missiles and drone strikes against Israel since Saturday — most of which were intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace
Every day that the Biden administration does not communicate to Iran the consequences of its attacks on Israel, it becomes more dangerous for American troops and facilities in the Middle East, Turner said.
However, President Biden’s national security spokesman John Kirby said earlier in a Meet the Press interview on Sunday that the United States has communicated to Iran “what we would do” if American troops or facilities are targeted.
He reiterated that the United States does not plan to engage in counterattacks against Iran on behalf of ally Israel – but will continue to help defend the Jewish nation.
Amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, some Republican lawmakers are unhappy with the Biden administration’s response so far to the escalating conflict and want a direct response to last night’s attacks from Iran and its proxies.
‘The president has made it clear: We are not seeking a war with Iran. We are not seeking a wider war in the region, Kirby told Welker on Sunday morning.
“We remain alert to precisely that potential threat, but we have seen no attacks on US troops or personnel in the region or our facilities and nothing to report as of this morning,” he said. ‘But of course we are going to follow it very, very closely.’
NSC spokesman John Kirby said on Sunday that the US has warned Iran of ‘what we would do’ if US troops are targeted in the Middle East amid an escalating conflict in the region
‘I just want to say that we made it very clear to all parties, including Iran, what we would do and how we would continue to defend Israel and also how seriously we would take any potential threat to our personnel and our facilities in the region,’ the NSC spokesman added.
Turner said on Sunday: ‘I think if this administration fails to step up to the plate and understand that we have an escalating conflict – and make it clear to Iran that there are red lines and that the United States will defend Israel and will not allow Iran to become a weapons state – that we will be in a wider conflict and we will have fewer options.’
“Their failure to box in Iran and let them understand that there will be consequences makes it more dangerous every day,” the intelligence committee chairman said.
Iran has launched more than 200 drones and missiles against Israel since Saturday evening, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) said.
The vast majority of the attacks were intercepted outside Israel’s airspace. But a small number of dozens of surface-to-surface Iranian missiles struck inside the nation, injuring a girl and causing damage to a military installation in the south, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari of the armed forces said early Sunday.
Turner warned President Joe Biden that “if this administration fails to step up to the plate and understand that we have an escalating conflict…we’re going to be in a broader conflict and we’re going to have fewer options.” Image: Biden returns to the White House on Saturday afternoon amid an escalating conflict in the Middle East
President Joe Biden met with his national security team in the White House Situation Room on Saturday after returning early from his weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware
Iran said the strikes came in response to an early April drone strike in Syria that left 12 Iranians dead, including two top generals.
Biden and his Pentagon chief, Lloyd Austin, have repeatedly said the United States will continue to help Israel defend against Iranian attacks, but have said Washington will not get involved in counterattacks.
It comes after Iran warned last week that if the US carried out strikes, its forces would attack US personnel and facilities in the region.
Biden had to cut short his beach weekend at his vacation home in Rehoboth, Delaware to resolve the escalating conflict.
The president arrived on the beach on Friday – but returned to Washington, DC just 21 hours later to meet with his national security and defense teams.