Which countries did President Biden authorize drone strikes or airstrikes since 2021?

1. Early, public airstrike: Syria — Biden’s first known post‑inauguration strike

In February 2021 President Biden ordered airstrikes against Iranian‑backed militia facilities in eastern Syria near the Iraq border; the Pentagon framed the action as retaliation for attacks on U.S. forces and officials said the president approved the strikes ^{[1] [6]}. Reporting at the time emphasized that the operation targeted facilities used by groups such as Kataib Hezbollah and was justified by the administration as self‑defense under Article II authority ^{[1] [7]}.

2. Afghanistan: the August 2021 “over‑the‑horizon” drone strike and its fallout

During the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan the military conducted a drone strike on Aug. 29, 2021 that the Pentagon later admitted mistakenly killed 10 civilians; that operation became a focal point for criticism of the administration’s “over‑the‑horizon” counterterrorism strategy Biden announced in July 2021 ^{[3] [8]}. News outlets and watchdogs documented the strike and it prompted reviews of policy and operational oversight ^{[3] [5]}.

3. Iraq and later Syria strikes tied to Iran‑backed militias (2023–2024 reporting)

Multiple outlets report Biden ordered retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian‑backed militias in Iraq after U.S. troops were wounded; those strikes in December 2023 were publicly framed as presidentially directed responses to attacks on U.S. personnel ^{[2] [9]}. U.S. forces have also conducted coordinated strikes along the Syria‑Iraq border on targets linked to the same networks, with analyses noting legal and war‑powers debates around such actions ^{[7] [10]}.

4. Wider picture: datasets, definitions and how many countries are implicated

Scholars at Brown’s Costs of War project say U.S. counterterrorism operations took place in 78 countries between 2021 and 2023 and that airstrikes occurred in at least four countries during Biden’s first three years; the project distinguishes between broader counterterrorism presence and actual airstrike events ^{[4] [11]}. Independent trackers like Airwars and media aggregations showed a decline in recorded strikes early in Biden’s term but also document operations across Iraq, Syria, Somalia and elsewhere, while noting definitional and reporting limits ^{[12] [13] [14]}.

5. Policy change and tighter presidential oversight

Early in his term the administration reimposed restrictions requiring White House sign‑off for certain counterterrorism strikes outside conventional battlefields — a change that helps explain a lull in some reported strike types — and later produced revised classified rules in 2022–2023 tightening when CIA and Pentagon forces can use lethal force outside active war zones ^{[5] [15] [16]}. The declassified guidance obtained by The New York Times shows a “near certainty” civilian‑harm standard for outside‑warzone strikes and requires presidential approval in many cases ^[16].

6. What reporting does and does not say about “which countries” Biden authorized strikes in

Contemporary reporting names Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in direct connection with strikes during Biden’s term; academic trackers identify at least four countries with airstrikes ^{[10] [2] [3] [4]}. Available sources do not publish a single, administratively sanctioned list of every country where President Biden personally authorized strikes, and they treat CIA, Pentagon, special operations and contractor actions differently — so any exhaustive, presidential‑authorization list is not found in current reporting ^{[5] [4]}.

7. Competing perspectives and political context

Advocates and critics draw opposite lessons: some credit Biden with reducing the tempo of drone and airstrikes compared with the previous administration, citing data showing a decline in strikes ^{[12] [13]}; others point to specific high‑profile strikes or to continued use of remote lethal force as evidence the administration has not ended the “drone wars” ^{[17] [14]}. Congressional and legal debates over war powers and presidential authority reliably reappear after these strikes; the administration has filed 48‑hour notifications in some instances but critics argue broader congressional authorization should be sought ^{[18] [7]}.

Limitations: this summary relies only on the supplied sources and those sources differ on definitions (what counts as an airstrike, who “authorizes” it) and completeness. Available sources do not list every country where Biden personally signed off on strikes; for that level of granularity official White House or Pentagon release documents would be required and are not included in the material provided ^{[5] [4]}.