American President Joe Biden is witnessing this Friday the solemn arrival in the United States of the remains of three soldiers killed in Jordan on Sunday.
Campaigning for a second term, the Democratic head of state promised to respond to the attack.
But he has not yet taken action.
The bodies of William Jerome Rivers, Kennedy Ladon Sanders and Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, soldiers based in the American state of Georgia (south of the country) and killed last weekend by a drone attack near the Syrian border, will be received with military honors at Dover Air Force Base (Delaware, northeast of the country).
President Biden will be present with his wife.
Joe and Jill Biden have already, in the same place, attended the repatriation of the bodies of American soldiers who fell during an attack at Kabul airport on August 26, 2021, at the time of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“I also received a phone call like this”
The Democrat, whose life was punctuated by personal drama, has a reputation for showing deep empathy when meeting bereaved families.
He thus called those of the soldiers who died in Jordan, in particular to ensure that they would accept his presence during the ceremony of the return of the bodies.
A video of one of these exchanges was broadcast by Georgia's main daily newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“I know that nothing anyone can say or do can ease your pain.
I've been through it myself (…) I hold you in my prayers and in my heart,” said the president, whose voice can be heard through the loudspeaker of a telephone, to the crying parents of Private Kennedy Sanders.
The parents of Spc.
Kennedy Ladon Sanders, one of three US reservists from Georgia killed in the drone strike in Jordan, received a phone call from President Biden, offering condolences and promoting her posthumously to sergeant.
Read more: https://t.co/yy4cOp0BIg pic.twitter.com/uX3optmWls
— Atlanta Journal-Constitution (@ajc) January 31, 2024
“I too received a phone call like this,” adds Joe Biden, referring to the call announcing the death in a car accident of his first wife and their daughter, still a baby, in 1972. He also spoke about the death of his eldest son Beau, who died of cancer in 2015.
The moment of contemplation will certainly not put an end to the avalanche of criticism which has fallen on Joe Biden, from his Republican adversaries, since the attack attributed to pro-Iran fighters.
“It took people dying for him to say,
OK maybe we need to do something
?
Is this a joke?
" for example attacked Thursday Nikki Haley, candidate in the Republican primary against the former president and favorite in his camp Donald Trump.
Also read: Joe Biden, President of the United States: the revenge of a bruised man
The latter has already attacked the “weakness” of his Democratic opponent, while American forces in the Middle East have suffered numerous attacks since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Democratic president, who repeats that he does not want regional escalation or open conflict with Iran, is under pressure to respond firmly to Tehran, the Iranian capital.
So far, he has only indicated that he has decided on the method of response.
The American executive specified that the retaliations would be multiple, aimed at different targets, and spread over time.