Iraqi militants believed responsible for drone attack that left 3 soldiers dead, local representatives call for Biden to act

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — According to officials, U.S. forces may have mistaken an enemy drone for an American one, resulting in the death of three Army Reserve soldiers in an attack in Jordan near the Syrian border on January 28th.

More than 40 soldiers were wounded.

Members of the SC House Military Caucus  say they’re demanding greater and more immediate action be taken by the Biden administration.

Retired Army CSM and Representative Doug Gilliam believes the deaths were preventable, saying, “I’ve heard many times from people asking our leadership, if they’re going to respond or are we going to wait for our soldiers to be killed. Well it has happened. They have been killed.”

According to the Pentagon, 46-year-old SGT William Rivers, 24-year-old SPC Kennedy Sanders, and 23-year-old SPC Breonna Moffett were killed in the drone attack.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed reporters on Monday saying, “We will respond, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing….”

President Biden has vowed to hold those responsible accountable, with White House officials saying the U.S. is not looking to widen war.

Late Wednesday afternoon, U.S. officials say they now believes an umbrella group of militants called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq was behind the drone attack — which was one of dozens of attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East since Hamas launched attacks on Israel on October 7th (and one of 165 attacks on troops by Iranian militia since the start of the war).

But it’s the first in which American service members have been killed.

“As a combat Veteran, I believe in walking soft and carrying a big stick, but when they kill our soldiers, I believe we should let everyone see our big stick with a swift response in Iran and Syria… Iraq and Yemen,” says Gilliam who believes a swift response is necessary.

“I’m not a warmonger, I don’t like war because I’ve been there. But at some point, a strong kinetic response is the only way to stop attacks on our troops,” he says.

Representative Stewart Jones agrees, saying, “Our weak leadership right now,  Joe Biden, the Biden administration, is leaving our service members unsecure — leaving our border unsecure, and not backing them with the full force of our government, so that’s got to change.”

Iranian officials have denied the attack and Iraqi officials have condemned it.