Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar - BREAKING: 3 US Troops KILLED, Biden Blames 'Iran Backed' Groups

Episode Date: January 28, 2024

Saagar covers the breaking news that 3 US Troops were killed and multiple dozens injured by a drone strike in Jordan. The Biden administration is blaming the attack on "Iran Backed" military groups. To become a Breaking Points Premium Member and watch/listen to the show AD FREE, uncut and 1 hour early visit: https://breakingpoints.supercast.com/   Merch Store: https://shop.breakingpoints.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Correct. And one thing I really love about this is that she's celebrating her daughter. Oh, I know. Listen to High Key on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, everybody. It's about 12.15 p.m. here on the East Coast, and we have some very unfortunate breaking news,

but still major nonetheless, that we can go ahead and share with all of you. U.S. Central Command has now announced on January 28th, three U.S. service members were killed and 25 injured from a one-way attack UAS, that's referred to as an attack drone, that impacted at a base in Northeast Jordan near the Syrian border. As a matter of respect for the families in accordance with DOD policies, the identities of the service members being withheld here now for the next 24 hours until their next of kin have gone ahead and be identified. President Biden also issued a major statement from the White House that I can hear for all of you. They say, quote, quote quote today america's heart is

heavy last night three u.s service members were killed many wounded during an unmanned aerial drone attack on our forces stationed in northeast jordan near the syrian border while we are still gathering the facts of this attack we know it was carried out by quote a radical iran-backed militant group operating in syria and ir Jill and I joined the families and friends of our fallen, the Americans across the country in grieving loss. These service members embodied the very best of our nation, unwavering in their bravery. So the top line, obviously, is that three unfortunate U.S. service members were killed in this attack. Initially, they're not assigning blame to any specific group, but they are claiming it is, quote, a radical Iranian backed militant group.

Interestingly, they are saying they are operating in Syria and Iraq, raising the question of this is a multi pronged attack, whether it was a single group on one side of the border, whether it that they reserved the right to respond, quote, we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing, raising questions about what exactly that is going to mean. So in terms of some little bit more of the detail, it's very, very early that this is all happening right now. I'm going to go ahead and share the BBC News here. They say that in general, in terms of quoting, they note a very interesting statistic. They say Jordan has housed U.S. military bases for some time, and it is estimated there are about 3,000 American troops who are typically stationed there. And, of course, they also highlight that earlier this month, two U.S. Navy SEALs are presumed dead by the U.S. military

after they were missing during an operation off the coast of Somalia. But these are the first American service members actually killed on the ground in an attack like this since the war between Israel and Gaza began more than 100 days ago. This is obviously going to be a major piece of escalation in terms of what the U.S. response will look like with the Iranian groups. Already, they're ascribing blame to Iranian groups. We don't know yet whether this was directed by Tehran or not, what the U.S. intelligence agencies and all of that are saying. But nonetheless, I think we're going to be hearing about this for quite some time in the future.

It's a very dangerous, dangerous moment. I don't think it's a surprise this happened in Jordan. It was almost certainly a message because Jordan is very close to Israel. And it's possible that if some sort of justification or any of that were to come out, this is purely speculation on my part. I want to be clear that perhaps they would claim that these military assets were assisting with the Israeli military campaign. I could see something like that as some sort of, quote unquote, justification. Nonetheless, escalation now between Tehran and Washington is going to go dramatically sky high. And it raises questions as well as to what the overall US military posture is. Don't forget, we have tens of thousands of

American troops all across this region. Unfortunately, it was basically a matter of time since this happened. We've had so many attacks on US troops and bases in Iraq and in Syria, not to mention the US Navy, which is currently in a tit for tat with the Houthi rebels that, you know, kept saying it only takes one. It only takes one for a U.S. service member. And in this case, I mean, this is clearly a very directed attack because you have multiple, more than a dozen U.S. service members who are also injured on top of the three that were killed in this drone attack. So there's going to be a lot of questions in the coming days and in the hours. Obviously, Crystal and I will have a show for everybody tomorrow.

We're going to break down everything that we know. Very likely we could see military action actually happen as soon as tonight. It's very possible we will be monitoring that. We'll bring everybody the breaking news. There are also definitely going to be major calls from U.S. lawmakers about escalating the situation, possibly calling for war with Iran. So it's a dangerous moment here for the world. And all of it, all eyes really are going to be all this.

We'll be monitoring the situation for the remainder of the day and we'll bring everybody updates tomorrow. Just want to say thank you again to our premium members, which enable breaking news segments and things like this. And a thank you to our production team as well, which always able to help, you know, breaking moments, things like this to be able to bring all of our audience and news. And we appreciate you all very much and to all of our troops out there. I hope you guys stay safe. And, you know, I pray that this does not escalate

any further than this, but that is all that we can really say at this moment. I'll see you guys later. Over the years of making my true crime podcast, Hell and Gone, I've learned no town is too small for murder. I'm Katherine Townsend. I've heard from hundreds of people across the country with an unsolved murder in their community. I was calling about the murder of my husband.

The murderer is still out there. Each week, I investigate a new case. If there is a case we should hear about, call 678-744-6145. Listen to Hell and Gone Murder Line on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. High key. Looking for your next obsession? Listen to High Key,

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