A top Biden administration spokesman was confronted Wednesday on what some are calling "inconsequential" responses to Iranian attacks on at least 40 U.S. installations in the Mideast; where there have been no reports of deaths but some neurological injuries.
Retired Rear Admiral John Kirby, the National Security Council's strategic communications official, told FOX News he nor the White House plan to publicly "telegraph" their future responses to Iranian aggression, but underlined the administration's continued concern for their safety in all regards.
Kirby suggested on "The Story" many of those still stationed in the Middle East have been engaged in preventing a resurrection of ISIS.
Anchor Martha MacCallum played for the retired admiral a clip of a Hamas hostage's sibling, who spoke in Washington this week.
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The man said the Palestinian terror group's invasion should be not only a "wake-up call" for Israel but for the West as well, commenting that America and Europe "are next" – and MacCallum expounded that he was clearly referring to Iran and its malign influence in the region.
"The president obviously is certainly mindful of a range of security threats that we face around the world," Kirby replied. "And certainly some of those threats emanate from the regime in Tehran – the attacks on our troops in Iraq and Syria are funded, resourced by the IRGC, which has direct ties to the supreme leader (Ali Khamenei)."
Kirby said the administration has and will continue to pledge commitment to protecting U.S. interests in the region, including any additional military forces needed "if it comes to that."
MacCallum countered that many Americans believe the administration has not done enough to dissuade Iran from attacking U.S. installations and service members:
"You're a military man. What do you say to the members of our U.S. services? They are watching this incoming: You've got a couple of people who've suffered traumatic brain injuries and others who have been injured," she said.
"When you're telling them – don't fight back, Just sit there. You're telling them, you know, just sit tight at this moment and take it?"
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Kirby began to reply that the U.S. has retaliated with strikes of its own, to which MacCallum interjected that many experts see such return-fire as strategically pointless.
"With all due respect John, I've talked to military experts who say that retaliation is completely inconsequential; that Iran needs to be hit in a way that means something to them; their command and control centers, which we know where they are," MacCallum said.
"Is that something that this White House is willing to do?"
Kirby replied that the White House does not plan to "telegraph our punches on national TV" and reiterated that protecting U.S. troops abroad is of paramount concern.
"Our guys are there in Iraq and Syria for a legitimate purpose – still a counter-ISIS mission. And they're going to stay at that mission." he said.
Kirby added that it is not entirely certain what the purpose of the additional attacks on U.S. facilities since the Hamas invasion, but said the possibility cannot be dismissed.
"[A]s I said in the very first question that you asked me, we're going to continue to support our ally, Israel, in this fight against Hamas," he said.
Top Republicans have also criticized the Biden administration's response to Iranian aggression, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who told FOX News last week one of the airstrikes targeted an installation he served at in Iraq while in the Navy.
Last month, former President Donald Trump told an Iowa crowd that "American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks," in a reference to the $6 billion of Iranian assets held in South Korean accounts the Biden administration allowed to be unfrozen for humanitarian purposes as part of a prisoner swap.
Trump later boasted Iran never showed such direct aggression toward the United States while he was president, saying at an event Biden "betrayed Israel."
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., another 2024 GOP hopeful, recently led the introduction of a bill that would refreeze the $6 billion in Qatar, where the funds had been transferred for Iranian accessibility.
In a statement, Scott called Biden's move a "grave mistake that created a market for American hostages" and "put a credit on the balance sheet" of a top Hamas bankroller.
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