President Trump has shelved, at least temporarily, plans to sharply expand the American military campaign against Iran after senior advisers warned that renewed large-scale combat could dangerously weaken U.S. defenses across the Middle East, according to The New York Times.
The decision followed a Friday meeting between Trump, top White House advisers and senior Cabinet officials. Although the administration continues to review its military options, officials said the risks of a major escalation have raised serious reservations inside the administration.
One of the central concerns is the Pentagon’s already diminished supply of Patriot antimissile interceptors and other air-defense munitions stationed in the region. Those weapons are needed to defend American forces and installations against Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.
Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, privately advised that resuming major combat operations against Iran was militarily possible but would dangerously deplete the interceptors available to U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East. A spokesman for Caine declined to discuss the advice he gave the president.
Officials said interceptor shortages are only one of several dangers being weighed. Trump and his senior aides are also concerned that a broader campaign could expand the war across the Middle East, strain relations with key Gulf allies vulnerable to Iranian attacks and deepen global energy, economic and refugee crises.
There are also doubts within the administration over whether another major round of strikes would force Tehran to make concessions or return to negotiations. One senior U.S. official argued that the attacks may be producing the opposite result by keeping Iran unified and allowing its leaders to rally the population against an outside enemy.
Trump has therefore held back from authorizing the sweeping escalation he had been considering, though the decision is not necessarily final and military options remain under discussion.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
