[TheDrive] The discussion centered on Israel's Iron Dome system, but reflects broader frustrations after months of rocket attacks from Iranian-backed militias.Members of Congress and a senior U.S. Army officer had a testy exchange on Capitol Hill today over the lack of air and missile defenses in Iraq in the wake of a rocket attack that killed two American troops and one British service member at Taji Air Base yesterday. Legislators were particularly interested in why the U.S. Army has not yet deployed its recently acquired Israeli-made Iron Dome systems, which are combat-proven against exactly these types of threats. The tense discussion also came amid reports that none of the rockets fired at Taji were shot down, even though the U.S. military says it is now in the process of bringing air and missile defense systems into the country.
Congressmen Doug Lamborn and John Garamendi, a Republican from Colorado and a Democrat from California, respectively, grilled U.S. Army Lieutenant General Daniel Karbler, head of U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, about Iron Dome and the attack on Taji at a hearing on Mar. 12, 2020. Earlier in the day, U.S. Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), had told reporters that Iranian-backed militias in Iraq were very likely responsible for firing the rockets at Taji, which also wounded at least a dozen other personnel belonging the U.S.-led coalition at the base. U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has also blamed at Iran and its regional proxies.
Beyond Iron Dome, Garamendi's comments, in particular, reflect a growing frustration on part of Congress, as well as the general public, regarding the apparent (no shit) lack of defenses available to counter the immediate threat of both rockets and ballistic missiles that U.S. forces in the Middle East, especially Iraq, face right now. Rocket attacks, similar to the one aimed at Taji yesterday, have been occurring regularly at a number of bases that American troops use in that country, as well as the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, for months now.
Politico has reported that no existing U.S. air defenses at Taji shot down any of the incoming rockets in this latest attack and its not even clear if there were any such systems in place at all.