The military's responses to attacks carried out by Iranian proxies against U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq have been inadequate, according to former Defense Secretary Mark Esper.
U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria are in the region to ensure the lasting defeat of the Islamic State, but they have come under attack by Iranian proxies more than 60 times in the last month, which has left roughly 60 U.S. troops with injuries, though all of them have returned to duty.
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The U.S. military has launched three sets of airstrikes against facilities used by the proxies, but the strikes have not deterred the proxies from continuing their attacks. There have been multiple attacks since the most recent of the U.S. strikes.
"I don't think that our response has been forceful enough and frequent enough, and because what we're trying to do is achieve deterrence, and you don't have deterrence if you strike them and they immediately strike back," Esper told the Washington Examiner. "My understanding is that [the administration is] concerned about escalation. I think the way you prevent escalation is by responding more forcefully and getting those militias, those proxies, to back down, and I don't think we're there yet."
He urged the United States to carry out more strikes and expand to a "broader array of targets" than only striking ammunition and weapons facilities, though the Pentagon stands by its responses.
"Are we waiting for an attacker to inflict more damage to alter our response? I think you saw our responses, of our last three strikes. One of them hit a command-and-control node that was operating in a safe house, the others have weapons storage facilities, and a training facility," Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Thursday. "So, our attacks have significantly downgraded and degraded, I should say, the access that these militia groups have to these weapons, and so we're not waiting on something to act. We have responded, and if there are more attacks, we will certainly respond at a time and place of our choosing."
U.S. troops targeted a training facility and a safe house last Sunday, hit a weapons storage facility on Nov. 8, and struck a weapons storage facility and ammunition storage area in Syria on Oct. 26.
The U.S. State Department on Friday designated one of militia groups responsible for the attacks, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) and its Secretary General Hashim Finyan Rahim al-Saraji as Specially Designated Global Terrorists while the Treasury Department is designating six individuals affiliated with the Iran-aligned militia group (IAMG) Kata’ib Hizballah (KH) based in Iraq.
“Today’s action sends a message to Kata’ib Hizballah and all other Iran-backed groups that the United States will use all available measures to hold to account any opportunistic actors who seek to exploit the situation in Gaza for their own ends,” said Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “We remain fully committed to security and stability in the Middle East and are steadfast in our efforts to disrupt these destabilizing activities.”
Esper also suggested that the military should do more to hit Iran in particular due to its role in supporting the proxy groups, as well as other terrorist organizations, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
"We shouldn't hesitate to go after them as well. So, I think it's a broader array of targets, and it could be targets that include IRGC elements as well. They are the ones pulling the strings here," he added. "Let's be clear: They are the ones supplying and supporting these proxy forces. So I think doing that and, again, giving a more forceful response, both in frequency and volume. And in terms of the impact."
The attacks between the Iranian proxies and U.S. troops are occurring as the U.S. surged additional military power to the Middle East to support Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks. The U.S. bumped its presence in the region in an attempt to deter other parties from getting involved in Israel's war against Hamas.
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Tehran has been critical of Israel's war and the U.S.'s support for it but has largely refrained from joining and expanding the conflict. Esper pointed to Hezbollah as the most likely candidate to expand the war.
"My concern would be that, at some point in time, maybe the casualty count, the conflict in Gaza, escalates or doesn't abate, and at some point, Hezbollah feels the need to get involved and begin firing large volumes of rockets and missiles from southern Lebanon into Israel."