US Military Leaders Opposed Trump’s Iran War Plans, Citing Strategic Risks

According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, Abdel Bari Atwan, a prominent regional strategic analyst, wrote in a new article on the Rai al-Youm online portal that the U.S. military establishment explicitly voiced its dissent from the outset of any aggression against Iran regarding the intentions of President Donald Trump to launch such a war aimed at controlling the Strait of Hormuz and international shipping within it. The U.S. Army emphasized the necessity of strict adherence to the principles of the Pentagon’s new military doctrine, which stipulates that military confrontation should be avoided as much as possible, and if an attack by the United States were unavoidable, the war should be short, swift, and with limited material and human losses.

A significant number of senior U.S. Army commanders and military intelligence personnel, exceeding 25 generals, expressed their opposition to Trump’s recklessness and his succumbing to the deceptive campaigns of the Zionist regime. They declared that Trump and his supporters within the military would either have to resign or be dismissed from their positions if they continued this neglect.

The violation of the “Memorandum of Understanding” reached between Trump and the Iranian side, brokered through Pakistani mediators, indicates that the U.S. Army has once again fallen into Iran’s “great trap,” a meticulously designed snare centered around a “long-term regional attritional war.”

Atwan added that there are two indicators confirming that the U.S. Army has not won this war, and consequently, the Iranian side has not been defeated, at least up to this moment:

A: The U.S. Department of War announced an increase in the number of its army casualties in the Persian Gulf and Middle East region to 427 individuals in the past 10 days of engagements.

B: The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) of Iran announced the destruction of two oil tankers that struck naval mines planted along an unofficial route in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the apprehension of four other oil tankers by armed IRGC boats that intended to pass through the strait without Iran’s authorization.

According to the article, the U.S. Department of War did not disclose the nature or the extent of the danger posed by these injuries within its army ranks, which it acknowledged. It also refrained from admitting to fatalities, limiting its announcements to the number of wounded. This action is described as a “calculated cover-up” aimed at deceiving American public opinion and concealing the truth, as they are aware of the sensitivity of this issue and its potential to provoke public anger, similar to past U.S. wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam.

The U.S. Central Command admitted that 35 American aircraft have been downed in this conflict, including a highly advanced F-15 fighter jet, refueling aircraft, and an AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft for long-range surveillance, each costing $300 million or more.

Rai al-Youm further noted that the second indicator, concerning maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, confirms Iran’s assertion of closing the strait completely and disrupting shipping, preventing even a single drop of oil from passing, contrary to Trump’s false statements. This is evidenced by reports of the destruction or damage of two oil tankers and the detention of four others by IRGC actions.

While the U.S. Army has indeed bombarded Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including bridges, power plants, and railway lines, particularly in the southern cities and islands of Iran, inflicting substantial damage, it is also true that Iran’s response has been swift. Most U.S. bases on the western coast of the Persian Gulf have been destroyed. The bombardment of power and desalination plants in Arab countries and the expansion of military targets to include Jordan, in addition to the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and other U.S. bases in Kuwait, the headquarters of the Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, and aircraft hangars and military intelligence headquarters in Jordan and Iraqi Kurdistan, continue.

Atwan concluded by stating that the United States has lost all its wars in the Middle East, from Iraq to Afghanistan, and its conflict with Iran will be no exception. Unlike Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran is a “threshold nuclear state,” possesses the largest and most powerful army in the region, manufactures advanced missiles, drones, and submarines, and commands a potent human force and thousands of naval mines. Iran’s military industries are not dependent on foreign arms imports, and its missile and drone attacks on the Zionist regime, both in this conflict and in the preceding 12-day war, strongly support this assertion.