Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, addressed Congress last week and raised his concerns about the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and said U.S. forces need to begin targeting them more harshly. 

Milley’s comments came after an increase in attacks on U.S. bases in Syria, including a recent string of attacks that resulted in the death of an American contractor in the country. (See “U.S. BOMBS SYRIA IN RETALIATION STRIKE AFTER CONTRACTOR’S DEATH” 28 Mar 2023, “TOP TREND 2023, WWIII: U.S. ACCUSES RUSSIA OF MAJOR SPIKE IN AGGRESSIVE MILITARY FLIGHTS OVER SYRIA” 21 Mar 2023, and “WARMONGERS IN CONGRESS VOTE TO KEEP U.S. FORCES IN SYRIA’S FOREVER WAR” 14 Mar 2023.) 

There are about 900 troops still in the country. The U.S. keeps strike teams in Syria to carry out missions against individuals identified by Washington as terrorists. 

Milley was asked by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., about what the U.S. can do to protect its troops in Syria. The top general said it is time that the U.S. begins targeting the Quds Force “harshly.”

He identified the Iranian government as complex and said it is unclear how much power the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has in different areas.

“We do know that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and specifically their Quds Force—which is a designated terrorist organization—that group there is what we need to be targeting, and targeting them very harshly over time, and that’s exactly what we plan on doing,” he said.

TRENDPOST: A military official told Al-Monitor that Milley’s comments could be interpreted to mean the U.S. intensifies “both lethal and non-lethal actions.” 

AntiWar.com reported that the Pentagon has blamed Iran’s Quds Force for the drone that struck the base in March but “gave no evidence for the claim.”

The report noted that Iran accused the U.S. of retaliating by launching airstrikes on a “rural development center and a grain center.” The U.S. said the strike killed at least eight “militants” who were not of Iranian origin. (It is ironic that the Americans are the ones who are not invited to Syria and yet the Pentagon refers to the pro-Syrian forces as the militants.)

China, Russia, Iran 

Milley also repeated Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s concern about Russia, Iran, and China forming an “unthinkable” alliance. Milley said the relationship will be a problem for the U.S. “for many years to come.”

“I wouldn’t call it a true full alliance in the real meaning of that word, but we are seeing them moving closer together, and that’s troublesome,” he said. “And then… Iran is the third. So those three countries together are going to be problematic for many years to come I think, especially Russia and China because of their capability.”

TRENDPOST: U.S. troops have illegally invaded Syria since 2015 under the bullshit guise that they are there to fight against ISIS. It is important to note that Iran is a Syrian ally and it is the U.S. forces that are the uninvited occupiers. Turkey, a NATO ally, and Russia, called on Washington to withdraw its remaining military forces from Syria last year. There are currently 34,000 U.S. troops stationed across the Middle East.

Gerald Celente has been stating since America’s illegal invasion of Iraq, based on lies that Saddam Hussain had weapons of mass destruction, “Do you think America would invade if Iraq’s major export was broccoli?” The same with Syria and Libya… it’s all about oil and U.S. domination.