The US carried out airstrikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in Iraq after one of their attacks on Erbil Air Base on Christmas Day left three American servicemembers injured, one of them critically.

In a statement, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said:

Today, at President Biden's direction, U.S. military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups in Iraq. These precision strikes are a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias, including an attack by Iran-affiliated Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups on Erbil Air Base earlier today, and intended to disrupt and degrade capabilities of the Iran-aligned militia groups directly responsible.

Biden was informed of the attacks early Sunday but didn't decide on responding until 8:45 p.m. 

No matter your opinion on the deployment of US forces to Iraq and Syria, the fact remains that they are there under the direction of the president; in fact, they are there at the direction of four consecutive presidents. By sending them into danger, we have an obligation to try to guarantee their safety. US forces have been attacked hundreds of times since Biden was selected to be president. Earlier in December, I posted this story, American Forces Attacked by Iranian Proxies 84 Times in 52 Days and Biden Does Nothing. That number is now 102. In return, we've made six retaliatory attacks.

Even after an American serviceman was put in critical condition by a terrorist attack on Christmas Day, Austin is touting the "proportionate" nature of the strikes almost as if he was apologizing to Iran for the attacks, hinting to the mullahs that he just "had to do something because of domestic politics," and begging them not to get mad much like he's treating the Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea.

So long as there is a minimal price attached to attacking Americans and American installations, this will continue. Future attacks will not be limited to the Iranians and their lackeys. Terrorists in other places are measuring our response and taking notes. So is China.

As I warned in my earlier post, "It is only a matter of time until Americans get killed." Why Biden is so terrified of offending Iran to the point that he'd rather greet coffins at Dover AFB than make them stop is something that an enterprising journalist or member of Congress might want to look into.

As I said in BREAKING: US Destroyer and Several Other Ships Attacked in Red Sea - Biden Prepares to Do Nothing:

Sorry, letting barbaric, lice-infected nations lob missiles at your warships and neutral shipping in international waters says anything but "strong and steady leadership." His actions have made us the fat, left side of the IQ Bell Curve kid with a "kick me" sign on our back. It's time to take a lesson from Caligula, Oderint dum metuant: "Let them hate us, so long as they fear us." Maybe they should go to Amazon and buy a copy of Machiavelli's "The Prince." Without fear and respect, leadership is impossible, and we have neither going for us.

This only stops when the pain of attacking Americans and American interests outweighs the bragging rights at the Friday-night goat-buggering extravaganza.