President Biden sidestepped a clash with Iran that could erode the United States’s political influence in Baghdad through his decision to retaliate against recent attacks in Iraq by striking a base in Syria.
Biden’s team has avoided putting political pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al Kadhimi as rocket attacks continued apace in recent weeks. While former President Donald Trump’s administration paired intense private demands for the Iraqi government to protect U.S. personnel in the country with high-profile retaliatory strikes if any Iran-linked fighter killed an American, the Biden administration has made a point to adopt a deferential posture in public.
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