UNITED States President Donald Trump has lashed out at media reports stating that General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned him of potential risks of attacking Iran, including becoming entangled in a prolonged conflict and the possibility of US casualties.
Trump responded to the reports in a social media post on Monday, stating that Caine believes a war with Iran, which the president has threatened with a military attack if it does not accept a series of demands, could be “easily won”.
The Washington Post newspaper reported earlier in the day that Caine had told Trump during a meeting last week that a lack of critical munitions and support from regional allies could hinder US efforts to contain a possible Iranian retaliation in the event of an attack by the US.
US munitions stockpiles, including those used in missile defence systems, have been stretched thin by their use in support of allies such as Israel and Ukraine, according to the report.
“Caine also has raised concerns about the scale of any Iran campaign, its inherent complexity and the possibility of US casualties,” the newspaper reported, citing a person familiar with “internal discussions” on the matter.
Caine’s office responded to The Washington Post article by stating that he is tasked with providing “a range of military options, as well as secondary considerations and associated impacts and risks, to the civilian leaders who make America’s security decisions”.
The online news outlet Axios, which also reported on Caine’s concerns in discussions with Trump, said in an article on Monday evening that Caine has been the sole military figure briefing Trump on Iran for several weeks.
The outlet reported that the US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief, Admiral Brad Cooper, tasked with overseeing US military operations in the Middle East, has not been invited to meetings or spoken with Trump since January.
Axios, citing two sources, reported that while Caine “was all-in on the Venezuela operation” to abduct President Nicolas Maduro in January, “he has been more cautious in the discussions around Iran”.
“Citing that contrast, one source described Caine as a ‘reluctant warrior’ on Iran. Caine sees the stakes of a major operation in Iran as higher, with a greater risk for entanglement and American casualties,” Axios reported, citing two sources privy to high-level meetings in the US administration.
Trump hit back on his social media platform against what he called “fake news media” and reports that “General Daniel Caine… is against us going to War with Iran”.
“He 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.
“Everything that has been written about a potential War with Iran has been written incorrectly, and purposefully so,” the president said.
Trump has been mulling an attack on Iran for weeks, concentrating an enormous array of US forces in the Middle East in preparation for a possible war that could spread chaos and conflict across the region.
Iran offers little discernible threat to the US, and an unprovoked attack would likely violate international law.
Iran has expressed hope that negotiations can bear fruit, but it has rejected what it says are a series of maximalist US demands on issues such as nuclear enrichment, ballistic missiles, and support for regional proxies.