Trump rejects war doubts amid Iran row

Washington: US President Donald Trump forcefully rejected media reports that his top general opposes military action against Iran, insisting that any such operation would be “easily won” if ordered, even as senior Democratic lawmakers warned against what they described as a rush towards another Middle East war.

“Numerous stories from the Fake News Media have been circulating stating that General Daniel Caine, sometimes referred to as Razin, is against us going to War with Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He called the reporting “100% incorrect”.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the Pentagon has raised concerns to President Trump about an extended military campaign against Iran, advising that war plans being considered carry risks including US and allied casualties, depleted air defences, and an overtaxed force.

The warnings have largely been voiced by Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, within the Defense Department and during meetings of the National Security Council, current and former officials said, the daily reported.

“General Caine, like all of us, would like not to see war, but if a decision is made on going against Iran at a Military level, it is his opinion that it will be something easily won,” Trump wrote.

He added that Caine “has not spoken of not doing Iran, or even the fake limited strikes that I have been reading about, he only knows one thing, how to WIN and, if he is told to do so, he will be leading the pack.”

Trump said he would prefer diplomacy. “I am the one that makes the decision, I would rather have a Deal than not, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them.”

The President also referenced a previous strike. He said Caine “was in charge of Midnight Hammer, the attack on the Iranian Nuclear Development. It is a Development no longer, but rather, was blown to smithereens by our Great B-2 Bombers.”

The remarks came amid a broader political backlash on Capitol Hill.

US Senator Chris Coons, Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, said: “Less than one year after the United States bombed Iran’s nuclear program, President Trump has deployed a massive concentration of air and sea power within striking distance of Iran, threatening military action.”

He questioned the administration’s objectives. “Congress and the American people need answers about what our objectives are in Iran,” Coons said, adding that Americans “deserve to know what President Trump’s objectives are, how they will make Americans safer, and how any military engagement will end.”

While acknowledging that “Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon,” Coons warned that “risking the lives of American service members by bombing the country yet again in hopes that this is the attack that will finally compel them to abandon their nuclear ambitions is not a strategy.”

Congressman Seth Moulton also opposed the use of force. “Trump is preparing to attack Iran and draft America into an Iraq War 2.0. What does he think he will achieve, and at what cost? So far, we have no idea,” he said.

Moulton argued that “the only reason we don’t have a deal is because Trump tore it up in his first term,” and added: “Now it’s up to Congress to find more backbone than it did when George W. Bush misled America into Iraq.”

IANS