Western media are worried about the outbreak of a ＂greater Middle East war＂, and Biden doesn’t want to see it last …

(Observer Network News) With the intensification of the spillover risk of the hot war between Palestine and Israel, the commercial shipping in the Red Sea has been affected, and military frictions have been constantly occurring between the US military and organizations regarded as "Iranian agents" by the United States. Israel claims that it is experiencing a "multi-regional war" … A series of new events highlight the possibility of war escalation, and western media are generally worried that a larger war will break out in the Middle East, which will bring serious political and economic consequences.

A few days ago, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Guardian, etc. published commentary articles expressing concern about the escalation of the situation. The European version of the American "politician" news network is even more blunt. No matter whether the western countries are willing to admit it or not, the Middle East is "already in a state of war".

The Guardian commented that the conflict between Israel and Gaza was bad enough. If a larger-scale war breaks out, it will be a disaster for the United States, Israel and the whole region. The United States fears falling into an unbearable large-scale conflict.

CNN, on the other hand, focuses on a more pressing issue: the American election. The Republican Party has been asking the Biden administration to take further actions in the current situation in the Middle East. The commentary believes that if the situation in the Middle East suddenly deteriorates, Biden will have little political room for manoeuvre against Trump. "The United States, especially Biden, cannot allow this situation to become a long-term reality."

On December 20, 2023, local time, during his visit to the Middle East, US Secretary of Defense lloyd austin (left) suddenly boarded the "Ford" aircraft carrier for inspection. (Source: vision china)

The US media is worried that the US military will also get in.

Since the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out on October 7, the outside world has been worried that the conflict may expand into a regional war. After the "limited interaction" between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, this concern did not immediately become a reality. However, the attacks in recent days and the speed of escalation have aggravated this concern.

Although the United States has put pressure on Israel to reduce the intensity of its military operations in Gaza, Israel has warned that its attacks on Hamas (Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement) in the Gaza will continue for several months. CNN said that this may increase the possibility that the war situation is out of control and further "drag down the United States."

On December 25th, US Eastern Time, the US military attacked three facilities of Hezbollah Brigade and its affiliated organizations in Iraq. The United States accused the organization of carrying out a new round of drone attacks on US troops in Iraq, which injured three American soldiers, one of whom was seriously injured. Hizbullah Brigade is regarded as an Iraqi Shiite militia with close ties with Iran, and has been listed as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States.

According to the US Central Command, on December 26th, local time, American destroyers and fighter planes of the aircraft carrier Dwight D Eisenhower intercepted 12 suicide drones, 3 anti-ship ballistic missiles and 2 ground-attack cruise missiles from Houthi armed forces in Yemen over the Red Sea. Hussein’s armed forces are regarded by the United States as an organization with close ties with Iran. The United States has previously accused Iranian intelligence agencies of actively helping to plan the attack on the commercial shipping of Houthi’s armed forces, but Iran has repeatedly denied any involvement in this matter.

In addition, unstable factors have spread to the Indian Ocean. A merchant ship caught fire after being attacked by drones in the Indian Ocean on December 23. The US Department of Defense accused the matter of being related to Iran, saying that the ship was attacked by Iranian drones. In response, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Canani responded at the editorial meeting on 25th that the US accusation was groundless.

On December 25th, a senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who served as a military adviser in Syria died. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused Israel of air strikes in Damascus, the capital of Syria, which led to the death of this senior commander, and stressed that Israel "will definitely pay the price for its crimes". But Israel refused to respond.

CNN believes that these new regional security incidents highlight the possibility of war escalation, and also show that US military personnel are getting closer and closer to the dangerous front line. "If American soldiers are killed or naval assets are seriously damaged in the future, Washington will have no choice but to fall deeper into the Middle East issue."

The Wall Street Journal published a commentary on the editorial board of the newspaper on the 26th, saying that Biden is putting the US military in danger. If this continues, sooner or later, when armed groups regarded as close to Iran carry out fatal attacks on US military bases in the Middle East, American servicemen will be seriously injured.

Christopher O’Leary, the former head of the American government’s hostage rescue department, told CNN on 26th that the situation in this region is not close to the worst yet, and although there have been persistent attacks, to some extent, these attacks are "measured". However, he believes that the possibility of the situation deteriorating always exists.

He warned, "If Iran really takes off its gloves and fully releases its’ proxy’ military power, we will face real regional problems. Yes, the US troops stationed in Iraq and Syria bear the brunt." O’Leary claims that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is part of an Iranian-controlled strategy to gain regional influence and power through organizations like Hamas.

On December 19, 2023, in Manama, Bahrain, at the headquarters of the US Navy Central Command, US Secretary of Defense lloyd austin (rear) delivered a speech to the members of the international maritime task force to protect merchant ships in the Red Sea. (Source: vision china)