It has been 52 days since Biden’s inauguration. And, naturally, as the administration is settling into its powers and making strides in legislation, many of Biden’s followers want to see progress in the many campaign promises made by Biden months ago. However, instead of reassuring the people on the promises made or simply working on making said promises a reality, Biden instead called upon his powers as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and…bombed Syria. 

According to an NBC News article, on Thursday, February 25, President Biden “…ordered airstrikes on buildings in Syria that the Pentagon said were used by Iranian-backed militias, in retaliation for rocket attacks on U.S. targets in neighboring Iraq.” One such rocket attack occurred on February 15, in an airport in Erbil, northern Iraq, where a Filipino contractor with the American-led military coalition was killed. Six others were wounded– including a Louisiana National Guard soldier and four American contractors. However, this most recent American retaliation killed at least 22 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Additionally, it has been reported that the administration had planned on a second airstrike but pulled back when informed that “A woman and a couple of children were in the courtyard at one of the sites,” following battlefield reconnaissance. They did, however, continue with the initial attack, using “Two U.S. F-15 fighter jets” to drop “…seven precision-guided bombs… on what the Pentagon said was a logistics hub for the Iranian-backed militias near Syria’s border with Iraq” following reports from NBC News.

This American act of aggression brought outrage throughout Syria and its neighboring nations. However, many Americans were also outraged at the Biden administration for utilizing its military power to assert dominance in foreign countries instead of focusing its attention on the nation it is to serve. This outrage is especially warranted when considering the millions of Americans struggling to survive through the current pandemic and looking to the Biden administration to provide them with the support they need via the stimulus package that has been bouncing around Congress for months now, eviction protections, the controversial battle for a $15 minimum wage, and the cancellation of student loan debt. And yet, the Biden administration has not been making much ground on these promises and is instead committing acts of terror in outside nations.

After an entire year of continuous fighting regarding the pandemic, and the horrible handling in the U.S., what the American people need now is the support and leadership that Biden promised during his campaign against Trump. All elected leaders need to realize that being elected is only one-half of the battle; the actual fight comes in enacting every promise made to the American people and making them a reality.