3 U.S. troops killed, dozens wounded as repeat attacks on base in Jordan raise questions

At least three U.S. servicemembers were killed over the weekend in Iranian attacks, 

A third American soldier in northern Iraq died following “a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone,” CENTCOM said in a statement.

The first two were killed in a strike on a U.S. air base in Jordan. Remains have been found after another soldier at the base was declared missing after the attack, but they have yet to be identified.

Video of the precision ballistic missile attack in Jordan suggests it came with little or no warning, with shocked military personnel scrambling to get to shelters.

The missile and drone barrage was the second time in two days Iran managed to launch a direct hit on the base. In total, four Iranian attacks in five days targeting U.S. forces in Jordan have left dozens wounded, raising questions about whether missile defense systems either failed to intercept them or failed to see them coming.

CENTCOM vowed over the weekend to “swiftly punish” Iran for strikes on Jordan.

President Trump has paid tribute to the fallen on Sunday.

“Well, we feel very badly,” he said. 

“But, you know, those great people, those great patriots who are there fighting that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he added, though recent U.S. airstrikes have been focused on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, not dismantling Iran’s nuclear program.

The U.S. military has been sending more assets – such as aerial refuelers – to the region, and the deaths of the first U.S. troops in months appears to suggest that the U.S. military response is going to escalate.