Rocket Attack Fired From Iraq Aimed at US Military Base in Syria Ends Up a Total Dud

Looks like an attempt by an Iran-affiliated militia group in Iraq to lob rockets at a U.S. military base in Syria was a total dud. At least five rockets were launched from Iraq's town of Zummar towards a U.S. military base in northeastern Syria on Sunday, two Iraqi security sources told Reuters.

The attack against U.S. forces is the first since early February when Iranian-backed groups in Iraq stopped their attacks against U.S. troops. The attack comes one day after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned from a visit to the United States and met with President Joe Biden at the White House.

Two security sources and a senior army officer said a rocket launcher fixed on the back of a small truck had been parked in Zummar border town with Syria. The military official said the truck caught fire with an explosion from unfired rockets at the same time as warplanes were in the sky.

The rocket attack comes a day after explosions rocked an Iraqi militia's base, which were initially thought to be bombing by Israel or the United States. Iraqi authorities are still investigating the attacks against the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a coalition of Iran-linked militias in Iraq--although it's still not clear if there was even an air strike or who was responsible for it.

The last attack to cause injuries of U.S. personnel came in January, when an Iran-affiliated militia in Iraq fired ballistic missiles and rockets at Al Asad airbase.

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US House Passes Landmark TikTok Ban Amid Rising Data Security Concerns

The House of Representatives on Saturday passed what could be landmark legislation that would ban TikTok in the United States unless its parent company agrees to sell the video-sharing app to a U.S.-based company. Some have taken this development as a sign that it is “inevitable” that the bill will become the law of the land.

The proposed legislation, which has its share of proponents and detractors, is aimed at preventing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from covertly accessing the data of Americans using the app. If it becomes law, it could become a pivotal moment related to government involvement in digital communication.

The app has become quite controversial over recent years. Many of its users promoted Osama Bin Laden and spread pro-Hamas propaganda on the social media platform. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) told reporters that the legislation “represents a bipartisan breakthrough against the CCP’s most powerful tool of information warfare against the United States” and vowed that Congress would not “stand by idly while the CCP freely weaponizes TikTok to corrupt the minds of young Americans, radicalize Americans against their own country, and amplify antisemitism on a scale and at a pace not seen in human history.”

RedState’s Jennifer Van Laar indicated that she does not think the app should be banned, but wrote a very detailed and compelling piece making the case for conservatives to avoid using the platform. She explains why RedState and other Townhall Media sites avoid using TikTok.

I’ve never been tempted to install TikTok on any of my devices; you also won’t find RedState or any of the Townhall Media sites on the Chinese Communist Party-beholden app. That’s an intentional decision. We don’t want to promote the use of an app that makes user data available to a hostile foreign government. And yes, while some who seemingly understand the CCP threat contend otherwise (in a very legalistic/hair-splitting way), it’s pretty obvious that TikTok is essentially a CCP spy app.

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