On Friday’s “CBS Evening News,” CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reported that the U.S. military “was perplexed by the degree to which” the Biden administration “telegraphed these strikes” in response to the fatal drone attack on U.S. soldiers, because the telegraphing “gave the militia leaders and Iranian operatives in Iraq and Syria time to either get out of the country or go to ground by surrounding themselves with women and children.” But also reported that more strikes are planned and if the strikes on Friday were successful, the Iranian-backed militias “won’t have much to work with” to resume strikes once they come out of hiding.
Host Norah O’Donnell asked, “So, just about that, the president essentially telegraphed that some of these strikes would be coming. Did that impact their effectiveness?”
Martin responded, “Well, the military was perplexed by the degree to which the administration telegraphed these strikes, because it gave the militia leaders and Iranian operatives in Iraq and Syria time to either get out of the country or go to ground by surrounding themselves with women and children. But if the militias intend to resume their strikes against American troops, sooner or later, they have to come out of hiding. And if tonight’s strikes were successful, when they come out of hiding, they won’t have much to work with.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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