The United States has just ratcheted up the war by striking an Iran-linked facility in Syria. This is a retaliatory attack by the U.S. for drone and rocket attacks on U.S. forces that have continued in recent weeks.

This is the second time in as many weeks that the U.S. has carried out what it’s calling retaliatory attacks against Iran. These airstrikes were against a facility used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its proxies in eastern Syria and took place early Thursday. This is an obvious ratcheting up retaliation for a steady stream of rocket and drone attacks against American forces in Iraq and Syria, according to a report by The New York Times.

There have been at least 22 more strikes since the American retaliatory strikes last month. Rulers at the Pentagon said they have become more dangerous. Iran-backed militias have packed even larger loads of explosives, more than 80 pounds, onto drones launched at American bases, U.S. officials said.

“This precision self-defense strike is a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria by I.R.G.C.-Quds Force affiliates,” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement. “The president has no higher priority than the safety of U.S. personnel, and he directed today’s action to make clear that the United States will defend itself, its personnel, and its interests. The United States is fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities. We urge against any escalation,” he added as he escalated the conflict.

“The attacks, the threats coming from militia that are aligned with Iran, are totally unacceptable,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said in Iraq on Sunday. The ruling class in the U.S. says it’s trying to deter attacks on its troops occupying parts of the Middle East while not escalating the conflict.

I am no military expert, but I am certain that attacking Iran is definitely going to escalate the war no matter how it is done. War is war and attacks are attacks. The U.S. is obviously desperately trying to spread this war no matter what the rulers say.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly pledged to destroy Israel and repel U.S. military forces from the region, and the leaders of militant groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza view Mr. Khamenei as a powerful ally, often seeking his advice and consulting with him on strategic issues. -The New York Times

Iran Warns The U.S. It Will Be “Hit Hard” If There Is No Ceasefire In Gaza