BLOOMBERG HEADLINE TODAY:
,Columnist
How the US Can Strike Back at Iran
A deadly drone attack that cost American lives requires a swift, precise and meaningful military response.
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LAST YEAR: OCTOBER 27, 2023
Uploaded: Oct 27, 2023
U.S. forces carried out strikes on two military sites in Syria that the Pentagon says were linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Admiral James Stavridis, a former NATO Supreme Allied ...
November 8, 2023 - 05:30
![James Stavridis] What the US should do about Iran](https://res.heraldm.com/content/image/2023/11/07/20231107000752_0.jpg)
[James Stavridis] What the US should do about Iran
". . .Iran is increasingly likely to push Israel and the US, and I’d say the chances of a serious attack by Iran have risen uncomfortably high, to over 20 percent.
- It could close the Strait of Hormuz, spike oil prices, and move forward in unpredictable ways, especially with two US carrier strike groups, multiple Air Force attack aircraft squadrons, and an expeditionary Marine strike group on station today.
- Direct combat between US and Iranian forces is not out of the question.
If Iran decides to lash out either through more proxy activity -- notably from Hezbollah -- or even directly, Biden will be receiving a detailed list of options to take in response.
I’ve been part of preparing such lists over the years, and it is a daunting thing to do, knowing that you are developing, in effect, a menu of death and destruction.
Certainly, the Pentagon already has detailed target lists of Iranian facilities based on years of confrontation going back to the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979.
Some of the options likely to be considered include :
•Cyberattacks conducted by US Cyber Command with backup from the National Security Agency, targeting critical Iranian infrastructure: oil and gas facilities, refineries, shipping terminals, and possibly the electric grid of both Lebanon and Iran.
All would be legitimate military targets if struck in response to Iranian adventurism in the current crisis.
•Special forces operations against Hezbollah, which might include joint missions with Israeli counterparts, designed to undermine command and control connectivity between Tehran and Hezbollah.
•Special forces operations against Hezbollah, which might include joint missions with Israeli counterparts, designed to undermine command and control connectivity between Tehran and Hezbollah.
- Special Forces could also be significantly effective if used against both Hezbollah and Iranian logistics, arms shipments (both at sea and ashore), and resupply efforts to aid Hamas.
- With a range in excess of 1,500 nautical miles and pinpoint accuracy, these strikes could fruitfully be deployed against critical Iranian military targets, such as the sprawling Bandar Abbas naval station out of which operates much of the Iranian navy (both conventional and Iranian Revolutionary Guard units).
- The US Air Force could augment these with strikes from across the Arabian Gulf against Iranian coastal infrastructure.
- Both Navy and Air Force attack aircraft are minutes from lucrative Iranian targets.
- In addition to coastal targets, US air strikes could destroy Iranian infrastructure in the Gulf, including maritime platforms or gas and oil piping well heads.
These targets would not produce significant collateral civilian damage but would have both deep military effect and crippling economic impact. The list above, frankly, is just the beginning in terms of US capability with the force set currently forward deployed. Iran’s leaders are extremist but not irrational. Let’s hope they are paying attention.
Uploaded: Jan 6, 2020
Retired U.S. Admiral James Stavridis, now an NBC News analyst, joins TODAY to comment on mounting tensions in the wake of the U.S. airstrike that killed Iran’s top general. He says Iran might go after ...
Uploaded: Jan 22, 2024
James Stavridis, retired U.S. Navy Admiral and former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest developments in the Red Sea attacks, the U.S. military strategy in the ...
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