According to The Guardian, the Pentagon named 1st Lt Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii, and Pvt Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas, as the two US service members killed in Jordan. US Central Command had said they died while defending against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks, and the paper reported the war’s total US death toll now stands at 17.
This is the map of the war now. American troops do not have to be inside Iran to be in the kill zone, because Iran can hit US positions across the region and turn partner countries like Jordan into front-line territory.
The immediate question is whether Washington changes force protection, basing, or retaliation after these deaths. The political question follows fast: how many losses can this campaign absorb before support at home starts to crack.
The hardest part of this war to sell was always the word “limited.” That label gets thinner every time a US base outside Iran is hit, because voters hear Jordan, hear anti-ISIS mission, and still end up with two dead Americans whose names are Tyler James Feehan and Isabella Gonzales.
Filed to the World desk · Jul 20