AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has spoken with other top Trump administration officials about ending the U.S. war on Iran, according to a CNN report published on Friday night.
The war began in February with joint airstrikes by the U.S. and Israel. President Donald Trump previously referred to the action as “a little excursion,” but the conflict is now in its sixth month. In response to the ongoing airstrikes on the country, Iran has restricted travel through the Strait of Hormuz.
“Caine is looking for an off ramp,” one of three sources CNN spoke with said. CNN reported that Caine has made it plain to Trump and other high-level advisers that the U.S. should find a way out of the conflict because U.S. airstrikes alone are not likely to achieve Trump’s objectives. Moreover, other Trump officials are also looking for a way for the U.S. to disengage while saving face:
Caine is not alone in his view that the war has reached a crossroads. He has discussed concerns about the military options for escalating the conflict and raised the prospect of finding an off-ramp from the war with other key Cabinet officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, two of the sources said.
The top US general has recently side-barred with some of those key, like-minded Trump advisers in an effort to facilitate interagency coordination and ensure they are on the same page ahead of meetings with the president. The aim has been to make clear the limitations and pitfalls of the available military options, including those that do not involve putting US boots on the ground, the sources said,
In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for Caine said, “General Caine is an incredible asset to President Trump’s national security team, and the overwhelming success of Operations Epic Fury, Midnight Hammer, and Absolute Resolve speaks for itself.”
Caine and other administration officials were skeptical of a series of U.S. strikes on Iran late last month, where the U.S. bombed the country for at least 12 straight days.
“The only ones in favor of the operation were elements of CENTCOM,” a source told CNN, noting that Israel also supported the effort to escalate hostilities. Eventually, the U.S. eased up on the strikes after Middle East allies told Trump the bombings were endangering the region.
In meetings with the president, Caine has made clear the potential downsides of continued U.S. actions in Iran, but he also reassured Trump that “we could absolutely wreck” the Iranians if he would like to proceed.
The post ‘Caine Is Looking for an Off Ramp’: Joint Chiefs Chairman Reportedly Wants U.S. Out of Iran first appeared on Mediaite.
