War and United States National Defense

It is always fun to play the role of a “Monday Morning Quarterback” in reviewing a favorite sports team’s performance over the weekend. The Monday Morning Quarterback never loses a game! In this week’s blog, I am going to take the risk of playing the role of Monday Morning Quarterback in an area where the stakes are much higher than analyzing a favorite sports team’s performance over the weekend. In this blog, I intend to review and comment on what I view are important considerations for the military conflict undertaken by the United States against Iran.

I believe it is abundantly fair to consider Iran as an enemy rogue nation and sponsor of terrorism against the United States, Israel, and Western Europe. I believe that it is also fair to say that the United States and Western Europe have largely failed to adequately confront and address the threat posed by Iran and its proxy terrorist groups since 1979. If one believes this to be the case, why is it so and what should be done at this point in the military conflict undertaken by the United States against Iran?

It is not clear to me that President Trump was adequately briefed on important military and ideological considerations prior to commencing the military conflict against Iran. Or, if he was informed, he failed to properly consider this advice. Since the beginning of the military conflict, two glaring blind spots seem evident. First, did military planners fail to contemplate that Iran would seek military and economic leverage by closing the Strait of Hormuz? Was President Trump educated on this point? If he was, did he ignore or downplay this information? What did the United States intend to do if the Strait was closed? Did it have a plan? Second, did the CIA fail to understand that Iran’s leadership worships radical Islam with the goal of eliminating from the face of the earth the “infidels” in Israel, the United States, and Western Europe? Did the CIA not understand that Iran’s leadership views any meaningful concessions or compromise with the United States as unforgivable blasphemy and apostacy against their “sacred” religion?  If they did understand it, did they inform President Trump? If so, did he ignore or downplay the advice?

It is also not clear to me that President Trump was adequately briefed on the adequacy of munitions available for the military conflict with Iran as well as the adequacy of munitions to deal with a second military conflict should it arise. Would what President Xi Jinping makes of this deficiency? But more importantly, how can the most powerful country in the world allow itself to run short of interceptors to protect against Iranian ballistic missiles which are aimed at American military bases in the Gulf States? This would be comical if were not deadly for almost 20 American military personnel killed by Iranian missiles which attacked American military bases in the Gulf States.

I think it is fair to ask if the American people were adequately prepared for the cost and effort associated with the Iranian military conflict. Has the Trump Administration adequately explained how it intends to achieve its primary goals for the Iranian Military conflict? As my wife Cathy and I toured Germany and its principal cities earlier this summer, a familiar message shared by our local German guides was that over 80% of a given city had been destroyed by the Allies’ bombing, which was largely a euphemism for how the United States military had accomplished the destruction. Did the American military might accomplish the surrender of the Nazi regime in Germany or did the Nazis just get weary from the conflict and surrender? Did the conflict in the Japanese war theatre end because the Japanese were tired of the conflict or was it because of President Harry Truman’s decisiveness and courage in utilizing the atomic bombs which were available to be deployed? While I am certainly not advocating that the United States should violate the tenents of international law regarding warfare or intentionally place Iranian civilians in harm’s way during the course of the military effort, I fail to understand the on again and off again kinetic military action against Iran when the key leadership in Iran has shown no interest or desire to reach a settlement which would remove Iranian nuclear capability and restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

At this point, if the Trump Administration has neither the will nor the military supplies necessary to undertake the military action required to open the Strait of Hormuz and deal decisive destruction to the Iranian nuclear infrastructure, the Trump Administration should follow the advice given by the late United States Senator George Aiken of Vermont regarding the United States involvement in the Viet Nam War: “Just announce that we won and withdraw all of our military forces and go home!” The Trump Administration should seriously consider this approach because the current military undertaking in Iran is only treading water at best while causing high gas and diesel prices and accelerated inflationary pressure at home, and a near certainty that Democrats will win both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in the mid-term elections with numerous Democratic Socialists being elected in the process.

Does the Trump Administration desire this result as a key part of its legacy?

God bless you and thank you for the privilege of your time in reading my blog.