Expert warns ‘US will get dragged into more wars in the Middle East’ than before
An expert has issued a dire warning that the “US will get dragged into more wars in the Middle East” and “it will escalate” more and more, per Mirror US.
Israeli soldiers stand by a position near the Israel-Lebanon border amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in northern Israel October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Avi Ohayon(REUTERS)
On Wednesday, Israeli forces intensified their operations on two fronts, launching a ground offensive into Lebanon against Hezbollah and conducting airstrikes in Gaza. The Lebanese incursion resulted in the deaths of eight Israeli soldiers, while the strikes on Gaza claimed dozens of lives, including children.
The US has been unable to rein in its key ally, Israel, and as the U.S. presidential election approaches, the likelihood of strong intervention from Washington seems slim.
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Dr. Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King’s College London, told Mirror US, “The key issue is that no one will put Netanyahu on notice. Anything the Israelis will do now they’ll do without the constraint from the US. There is no real sitting US government who have any effective leverage over the situation on the ground, especially so close to the election. This vacuum of leadership in the region makes it very very unpredictable about what it’s going to happen next.”
Trump believed not to drag US in Middle East wars
He warned that the US could find itself unintentionally drawn into a direct confrontation with Iran, despite former President Donald Trump’s earlier attempts to prevent such entanglements. “Trump doesn’t have a plan to get out of this quagmire but he does believe in stopping the US get dragged into more wars in the Middle East and that’s exactly what’s happening right now.”
“It will escalate. It already has. We’re beyond that threshold level. They’re on a war footing. It will respond in order to balance the deterrent level. I do think for a lot of Israelis it was a day of reckoning. They realized just how vulnerable they are. This has a massive psychological impact on the Israeli population.”
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President Joe Biden, in a statement on Thursday, said he did not anticipate Israel retaliating against Iran in the immediate aftermath of the missile attacks and dismissed the idea that the US would give Israel permission to strike Iranian targets.
“First of all, we don’t ‘allow’ Israel, we advise Israel,” Biden said. “And nothing’s going to happen today.”