Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine testifies before Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP
The three sources CNN spoke to said that “the military options on the table to escalate the conflict could backfire, and airpower alone is unlikely to achieve President Donald Trump’s stated objectives”.
One of the sources bluntly added, “Caine is looking for an off-ramp”.
“Caine is not alone in his view that the war has reached a crossroads,” the source told CNN.
According to CNN, Caine discussed concerns about military options for conflict escalation 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.
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,” two sources told CNN.
Trump has consistently appeared averse to the idea of deploying ground troops in Iran, instead signalling he believes that air bombing can force them to agree to a deal on his terms.
A White House official praised Caine’s contributions to Trump’s national security team, telling CNN: “The General always provides accurate, unbiased information and a host of options to the Commander-in-Chief, who ultimately makes decisions based on what he feels is best for US national security”.
The war has reached a point where many of Trump’s top national security officials, bolstered by military doctrine, assessments from the US intelligence community, and common sense, believe what Caine himself told lawmakers during a public hearing late last month: “airpower has its limits,” CNN wrote.
For those reasons, Caine and other Trump officials were wary of the latest plan late in July to launch new, more aggressive strikes due to concerns about the likely fallout that could come from escalating the conflict, even as the president appeared ready to initially greenlight a “massive” operation, one of the sources said, declining to elaborate on the operational details.
“The only ones in favour of the operation were elements of CENTCOM,” the source added, noting Israel also broadly supported an operation to escalate the conflict.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike Iran’s energy infrastructure, a move sources said is unlikely to force Iran to capitulate, as Caine himself has alluded to publicly, and almost certainly prompt retaliatory attacks targeting energy infrastructure of Gulf countries. Doing so would also likely further alienate the Iranian population, rather than fuel blame toward the regime, several sources told CNN.
Many within the administration as well as outside analysts agree that the only way to decisively defeat Iran would be through a major operation involving ground troops, a commitment that could potentially cost thousands of American lives. The Pentagon considers all scenarios, so those plans exist, but as of now, no one in the administration is arguing for such drastic action, CNN said.
Therefore, as Caine and others continue to make sure Trump is aware that less drastic escalatory military actions could lead to negative results, the focus is on finding the off-ramp that offers the president a “symbolic” win, at minimum, he can try to sell to the American people without preventing a potential diplomatic breakthrough, starting with an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
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