The White House says Biden is “reading” response options after the deadly attack on the military in Jordan
U.S. President Joe Biden attends a Reproductive Health Task Force meeting at the White House on January 22, 2024 in Washington. (Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden and his national security team are weighing response options after three U.S. service members were killed and dozens injured in Jordan, the White House said Monday morning.
National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby told CNN's Phil Mattingly that “the president is working through 'response options' at this point.”
“He had a good meeting with the National Security Council yesterday. He still has a decision ahead of them, and they'll certainly get ahead of it,” Kirby said.
As for which group was responsible for the attack, Kirby said the administration is still “investigating the characteristics and which group is specifically responsible.”
“I think we have a pretty good idea,” Kirby said, “and we strongly believe that this group was supported by Hezbollah, one of the main IRGC-backed groups in Iraq and Syria. Many of these attacks against our troops at our facilities.
Kirby said that while this was the first deadly attack against US troops in the region since the October 7 attack, it was far from the first attempt.
“It had dangerous consequences in ways that previous attacks didn't, but that doesn't mean the intent of the previous attacks wasn't dangerous either, and we were able to defeat them,” he said.