Anthony Blinken and Llyod Austin say ‘US has the right to self-defence, won’t hesitate to take appropriate action’
Rehoboth Beach:Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday, Oct 22, that the United States expects the Israel-Hamas war to escalate through involvement by proxies of Iran. They asserted that the Biden administration is prepared to respond if American personnel or armed forces become the target of any such hostilities, an AP report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
This is not what we want, not what we’re looking for. We don’t want escalation,” Blinken said. “We don’t want to see our forces or our personnel come under fire. But if that happens, we’re ready for it.”
Austin, echoing Blinken, said “what we’re seeing is a prospect of a significant escalation of attacks on our troops and our people throughout the region.” He said the US has the right to self-defence “and we won’t hesitate to take the appropriate action”.
The warning from the high-ranking US officials came as Israel’s military response to a deadly October 7 attack by Hamas on civilians in communities in southern Israel entered its third week.
Blinken recently spent several days in the region, and spoke of a “likelihood of escalation” while saying no one wants to see a second or third front to the hostilities between Israel and Hamas, which rules Gaza.
************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com