Pentagon: ‘All Options Are On the Table’ After Rockets Kill Two US Troops in Iraq

Trump authorizes military to respond, blaming Iran-backed militia

A Wednesday evening incident in which a salvo of small Katyusha rockets his an Iraqi camp, killing two US troops, looks to be the latest opportunity for unrestrained US escalation in the region, with the Pentagon declaring that “all options are on the table.”

For the Pentagon, “all options” pretty much always means war, and US officials have subsequently repeatedly blamed Kataib Hezbollah for the attacks, despite not having conclusively proven that, and investigations having barely started.

But Kataib Hezbollah is a potential culprit, and that’s good enough for most. Combined with referring to the Iraqi Shi’ite group as “Iran-backed,” it was no surprise that President Trump has already authorized the military to respond.

On Thursday, there were reports that the US targeted several Shi’ite militias in Iraq, and while Defense Secretary Mark Esper said strikes inside Iraq were “the priority,” he refused to rule out attacking Iran outright.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.