President Trump’s menu of options for dealing with Tehran now includes one he didn’t have in his first term: full-scale war.
Pentagon and company contracting documents I’ve obtained describe “a unique joint staff planning” effort underway in Washington and in the Middle East to refine the next generation of “a major regional conflict” with Iran.
The new planning effort, sometimes referred to as the SEED project, covers everything from subtle tools like military deception right up to the rather less subtle use of nuclear weapons. The plans are the result of a reassessment of Iran’s military capabilities, as well as a fundamental shift in how America conducts war.
Though many in the media incorrectly dismissed the recent U.S. attack on the Houthis in Yemen as little more than a continuation of what the Biden administration was already doing, the new Iran war preparations make clear that the U.S. is exploring a far more aggressive approach. Following his successful assassination of Iran’s top general Qassim Suleimani in 2020, Donald Trump seems to have taken the lesson that aggressive action is relatively cost-free.