US Preparing for Worst-Case Scenario in Middle East | Crossroads

[Music] [Applause] good evening and welcome to Crossroads the United States is preparing for a worst case scenario in the Israel Hamas War this includes plans to evacuate more than 600,000 US citizens from Israel and Lebanon and the deployment of additional Weapons Systems to the Middle East that can well intercept ballistic missiles it's also now moving additional warships to the region and this is following a recent escalation from Iran I mentioned last week on the show that several US military bases were attacked this included rocket and drone attacks in Iraq Syria Lebanon and Yemen and now it turns out that Iran was behind at least some of these although should not they were not too serious the White House has now declared though that Iran is actively facilitating rocket and drone attacks on US military bases at least in Iraq and Syria President Joe Biden cut a recent press conference short as he was informed of the news Biden was rushed into the situation room and he only briefly told reporters that I apologize I have to go to the situation room for another issue I have to deal with it turned out that the attacks we mentioned were taking place last week have since escalated on Monday morning US forces were attacked a second time at the AL Alan base in Syria they were targeted by two drones although no injuries were reported I mentioned last week as well that the groups behind some of the attacks are tied to Iran that was known it was suspected they were coming from Hezbollah in Lebanon and the houis in Yemen at the time though it wasn't confirmed which groups the attacks in Syria and Iraq were coming from but that's now changing the White House declared on Monday day that it believes the terrorist attacks are being supported directly by the Iranian government and by Iran's Islamic revolutionary guard the irgc White House spokesman John Kirby said we know that Iran is closely monitoring these events and in some cases actively facilitating these attacks Iran is closely monitoring these events and in some cases actively facilitating these attacks and spurring on others who may want to exploit the conflict for their own good or for that of Iran he added that they're aware that Iran is trying to maintain a degree of plausible deniability but he noted we also are not going to allow any threat to our interests in the region to go unchallenged now on Saturday the United States also declared it was sending additional ballistic missile defense systems to the Middle East the United States is sending a terminal high altitude area defense or Thad system along with additional Patriot air defense missile system battalions to the region now these systems were able to intercept ballistic missiles which can carry chemical or biological Munitions as well as nuclear warheads and this could really just be the beginning defense secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement that following detailed discussions with President Joe Biden on recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the middle east region today I directed a series of additional steps to further strengthen the department of defense's posture in the region did you get that the United States is now going to be sending additional military forces to the Middle East it's not clear exactly how many just yet but Austin did say that he's now placing troops on prepared to deploy orders that's in addition to the existing 2,000 US troops who are already assigned to a heightened state of Readiness for potential deployment the US is also moving the USS Dwight di eyes and how aircraft carrier to support this Mission now of course it's debatable how much of an escalation this is for the US military but it's a bit ironic that the Biden Administration withdrew Ki defense systems from the Middle East well two years ago it was done under claims that tensions with Iran were cooling keep in mind that Biden's unfreezing of $6 billion for Iran recently before the attacks was also done with the allegations that tensions in the region were Cooling and now we have Iran going right back to the sponsoring of attacks on US forces and its allies now back in 2021 going a little back in time shortly after Biden came into office one of his first moves was to withdraw key defense systems from the Middle East that happened right alongside the bo watched us troop withdrawal from Afghanistan but while Afghanistan got most of the attention the other pull outs were significant as well as the hill reported at the time Biden withdrew eight Patriot anti-missile batteries from countries including Iraq Kuwait Jordan and Saudi Arabia and another missile defense system again Thad from Saudi Arabia as well as the hundreds of US troops who operate and support those systems now this was in addition as well to troop withdrawals elsewhere and the removal of other key defense systems in the region now the majority of those defense systems had been moved there under the Trump Administration previously and that followed the 2019 drone attack on aadii oil field that was blamed on Iran it was also in context of an Iranian missile strike on a base housing US troops in Iraq done again by Iran which was part of Iran's retaliation from the US drone strike that killed salomani that was the one of Iran's top generals who at the time was accused of plotting an imminent largescale attack on US troops in Iraq now you might remember as well that Republicans were very angry about Biden's 2021 choice to remove those weapon systems Senator Ted Cruz had tweeted at the time Neville Chamberlain Fresh Off giving Putin a multi billion dollar pipeline now pledges to withdraw Patriot and fat anti-missile def anti-missile systems in the Middle East and facilitate Iran's conquest of the region and here we are right now redeploying at least some of these systems to stop Iran's conquest of the region as it is again facilitating terrorist attacks on US forces and as this happens the United States looks like it's playing a few different roles look on one side the US is standing by in defending Israel that includes supporting Israel as it launches strikes on Hamas and Gaza on the other side the US is playing the role of regional Peacekeeper and it's trying to prevent the war from spreading to other countries and on another side the United States is playing a humanitarian role and is trying to prevent the killing of civilians as much as possible part of this has included delaying Israel's ground offensive to get civilians off the the battlefield but it's also being realist realistic that this may not be entirely possible White House Press Secretary John Kirby said that this is a war and regardless of us efforts to ensure otherwise civilians are going to be caught up in it watch This Is War it is combat it is bloody it is ugly and it's going to be messy and innocent civilians are going to be hurt going forward I wish I could tell you something different I wish that that wasn't going to happen uh but it is it is going to happen and U that doesn't make it right it doesn't make it uh dismissible it doesn't mean that we aren't going to still Express concerns about that and and do everything we can to help the Israelis do everything they can to minimize it U but uh but that's that's unfortunately the the nature of conflict this being said though Iran represents a whole other piece to the problem Iran is the force behind many of the terrorist groups and other Regional threats Secretary State Anthony blinkin had this to say at a recent United Nations meeting watch now it is no secret to anyone in this room or on this Council that for years Iran has supported Hamas Hezbollah the houthis and other groups that continue to carry out attacks on Israel Iranian leaders have routinely threatened to wipe Israel off the map in recent weeks Iran's proxies have repeatedly attacked us Personnel in Iraq and Syria whose mission is to prevent Isis from renewing its Rampage so let me say this before this Council and let me say what we've consistently said to Iranian officials through other channels the United States does not seek conflict with Iran we do not want this war to widen but if Iran or its proxies attack us Personnel anyway make no mistake we will defend our people we will defend our security swiftly and decisively now you getting that Iran is behind all the key Terror groups involved in this conflict that includes Hamas and that includes the groups behind the recent attacks on US forces blinkin is saying that if Iran attacks US forces that the United States will retaliate the big question now again given that some smaller attacks have now in fact happened is what the threshold for us Counterattack is going to be now it's possible that the current US response to bolster its forces and defenses in the region and to call out Iran directly maybe that's the current limit to all this but we're going to have to wait and see well folks this is it for YouTube for the rest of the episode come join us on Epic TV we're going to have dases Tusa on we have a great discussion about his new film called police state and we're going to go into a lot of what we're hearing about let's say weaponization of Justice two-tier legal systems is it really just about j6 is it about the other topics we can't even talk about on YouTube without having them censor us and why do they censor us for that matter it's going to be a great discussion don't miss it again that's on Epic TV EP C tv.com come and join us for that and I'll see you there [Music] [Applause] he