Opinion | General Jack Keane appeared with Stuart Varney this morning to discuss Iranian aggression in the Persian Gulf after Iran had shot down a $123 million US Navy Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Drone (BAMS-D), yesterday.
The New York Times reported last night:
President Trump approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation for downing an American surveillance drone, but pulled back from launching them on Thursday night after a day of escalating tensions.
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The operation was underway in its early stages when it was called off, a senior administration official said. Planes were in the air and ships were in position, but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down, the official said.
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It was not clear whether Mr. Trump simply changed his mind on the strikes or whether the administration altered course because of logistics or strategy. It was also not clear whether the attacks might still go forward.
According to Gen. Keane, President Trump is said to have ordered an attack on the sophisticated radar-guided surface-to-air missile launch site, in response to the unprovoked attack.
The deployment of U.S. naval and air military assets had already been set in motion when the president immediately reversed himself and ordered a stand down.
Gen. Keane said that the president reversed that decision after United States intelligence sources had come into new information that the Iranian commander who ordered the strike had acted on his own and was being disciplined for his actions.
It is unlikely President Trump will allow himself to be rolled by a hostile foreign nation, but it is even more unlikely that he’ll add his name to the list of presidents who have allowed themselves to be drawn into unnecessary wars in the Mid-East.
Once President Trump learned that the attack was carried out by a rogue commander in the field, and with the knowledge that the economic sanctions he’s placed on Iran has that nation on the brink of financial collapse, he decided that continuing his more measured approach was the wiser alternative.
President Trump has rebuilt our military as a deterrent to foreign aggressors. But, he has replaced the use of U.S. military aggression with the employment of aggressive economic strategies.
This president understands that economic security is military security and he recognizes that our rebuilt economy makes us the most powerful nation on earth.
President Trump is determined to force hostile nations to come to the negotiating table – rather than a field of combat – by the imposition of economic sanctions in order to drive better deals for America and to make the world a safer place.
