Two U.S. soldiers and an American civilian interpreter were ambushed and killed on Dec. 13 near Palmyra, Syria while conducting a key leader engagement in support of counter-ISIS operations, with three other service members wounded in the attack. This was not a run-of-the-mill patrol; these were Americans doing the hard, dangerous work of keeping terrorists off our soil and the cost was paid in blood.
U.S. officials on the ground and at the Pentagon say the assailant was a lone ISIS gunman who was engaged and killed by partner forces, but the incident is under active investigation and the identities of the fallen are being withheld pending next-of-kin notifications. The facts, as sketched by military spokesmen, are chilling in their familiarity: a predictable jihadist threat exploiting chaos, striking American service members and those who stand with us.
Retired Navy SEAL Jason Redman, appearing on Fox, was right to call it “prudent” to thoroughly pursue the intelligence trail; he warned there are many players in that bloody theater who could have a hand in this ambush. Redman’s voice should carry weight with any commander-in-chief who understands the calculus of liberty and force: intelligence matters, and failure to follow leads is how Americans die.
This attack is a blunt reminder that ISIS and its affiliates remain an active threat despite years of slogging to degrade them, and that American resolve cannot be treated like a negotiable budget item. The complexity of Syrian terrain and the shifting allegiances on the ground only make it more irresponsible for Washington to pretend distant wars do not matter to homeland security.
Our defense leaders have vowed consequences, and rightly so; the secretary of defense made clear those who target Americans will be hunted and held to account, and the president has pledged a serious response. Talk without action is a grave insult to the fallen, and the only honorable course is to pair the righteous anger of the moment with clear, decisive steps to prevent a repeat.
Americans should mourn the loss, pray for the families, and then demand a strategy that matches our values: ruthless intelligence work, iron support for our troops, and a foreign policy that does not apologize for defending American lives. To the men and women in uniform and the interpreters who put themselves in harm’s way for freedom, know that a grateful nation stands with you and expects its leaders to do what is necessary to bring justice to those who attacked you.
