Jan 5, 2024. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
The White
House is worried that the conflict in Gaza could expand to other parts of the
Middle East and is drawing up plans for a possible US response if that happens,
Politico has reported, citing informed officials.
Internal discussions are underway in the administration of US President Joe Biden about scenarios that could see Washington drawn into a major war in the region, the outlet said.
“The
potential for a wider conflict in the Middle East is growing,” said sources
including a senior Biden administration official.
The events
of the past few days “have convinced some in the administration that the war in
Gaza has officially escalated far beyond the strip’s borders,” Politico wrote.
According
to the officials, the US military is drafting plans to strike back at
Ansarullah fighters, who have been targeting commercial ships off Yemen’s coast
in response to the attacks on Gaza by “Israel”.
“From our
perspective, the most worrying thing is that the Houthis might sink a ship.
Then what happens?” one of the sources said.
The
intelligence community is trying to find ways of anticipating and resisting the
attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria by local militias. It’s also
working to determine whether the Houthis would carry out similar strikes, the
report read.
Such
contingency planning is routine amid heightened tension in the Middle East,
officials said. But this activity has intensified this week on orders from the
top echelons of the administration “over fears that the violence in the region
will only continue to grow and that Washington will eventually have to
intervene,” they explained.
al ahed news
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