On Monday’s broadcast of “CNN Newsroom,” CNN Pentagon Correspondent Oren Liebermann stated that the deterrence message to Iran that the Biden administration has attempted to send “has not gotten through,” and we ended up with the conflict with Iranian proxies that the U.S. has tried to avoid.
Liebermann said, “Well, the U.S. has tried to send that message repeatedly to Iran and its proxies not to attack U.S. forces, not to attack commercial interests, or block major waterways. The problem is, that message has not gotten through, as we’ve seen. The U.S. has had carrier strike groups, as well as other forces in the region to try to send that message of deterrence, and yet, over the course of the past month and a half or so, we have seen the Houthis launch more than 100 missiles, drones, and cruise missiles at commercial vessels in the Red Sea, and that, of course, is in addition to all of the Iranian proxies who have attacked U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria.”
He added, “The U.S. may have tried to avoid a conflict with Iranian proxies largely, but here it is. And now, the question, where does it go?”
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