U.S. commander: Iranian missile attack designed to 'inflict as many casualties as possible'

Al-Asad air base.
(Image credit: Ayman Henna/AFP via Getty Images)

U.S. commanders at the Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq do not think that last week's attacks by Iran were only meant to scare people.

"These were designed and organized to inflict as many casualties as possible," Lt. Col Tim Garland, Commander of Task Force Jazeera, told The Washington Post. Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles, targeting al-Asad and a second base in northern Iraq. The bases house U.S. troops, and were already on high alert after Iran promised to exact revenge for President Trump authorizing an airstrike that killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.