Speaking out of line, 63-year-old Commander of U.S. Mideast Forces Gen. Kenneth McKenzie stepped way out of line, saying the U.S. military had no role in the White House “maximum pressure” campaign in Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, 56, has led the maximum pressure campaign after the U.S. withdrew May 8, 2018 from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action AKA “Iranian Nuke Deal.” President Donald Trump, 74, set the policy, putting Iran on notice that the White House won’t tolerate Iran’s proxy war against Saudi Arabia. “It has a diplomatic component, it has had a military component,” Pompeo told reporters Jan. 7, only three days after the drone strike on Al-Quds’ Chief Qassam Soleimani near the Baghdad airport. “We actually do not directly contribute to the maximum pressure campaign,” said McKenzie, showing insubordination with the Commander-in-Chief.
McKenzie can’t be serious that there’s no military component to the U.S. maximum pressure campaign against Iran. Not only did the Trump take out Soleimani Jan. 7, he warned Iran April 22 that the U.S. Navy has been instructed to fire on any aggressive Iranian swift boat approaching U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf. How McKenzie thinks that’s not part of the maximum pressure campaign is anyone’s guess. “Instead, what our responsibility is as U.S. Central Command is to deter Iran from taking actions either directly or indirectly against the United States or our allies and partners in the region,” McKenzie, said, essentially agreeing with Pompeo that it’s part of the maximum pressure campaign. Contradicting Pompeo gives Democrats red meat during an Election Years, showing a disconnect between the White House and the Pentagon on Iranian policy.
Pompeo insisted that the operation that took out Soleimani was a way to restore “deterrence” against Iran, who Limpet-bombed oil tankers June 13, 2019 in the Gulf of Oman. Iran followed up its Limpet mine attack hitting Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq –Khurais oil refinery with Cruise missiles Sept. 14, 2019. Trump’s decision to strike Soleimani was directly related to the maximum pressure campaign against Iran. Pulling out of the JCPOA was directly related to Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism hitting North Africa and the Mideast with impunity. McKenzie, a four-star general, knows that U.S. forces directly check Iran’s current rampage in the Mideast. Supplying arms-and-cash to Hamas terrorists in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, Iran stokes tensions between Israel and Palestine. Iran’s 82-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called Israel May 22 a “cancerous tumor” that must be destroyed.
After Soleimani’s death Jan. 4, Iran hit Iraq’s Ayan al-Assad Airbase Jan. 8 with Cruise missiles injuring 100 U.S. troops, with concussive-like injuries. Trump reserved his response to strike back, putting Iran on notice that he’d strike back on his own timetable. McKenzie said Iran could act “either directly or indirectly against the U.S. or our allies and partners in the region,” blaming the White House for a foreign policy that endangers U.S. forces. McKenzie need a refresher course on Iranian aggression in the Middle East. U.S. foreign policy doesn’t endanger U.S. forces, it gives the Army, Marines and Navy the right to respond to Iranian aggression. Suggesting that U.S. Centcom was not part of the maximum pressure campaign ignores the role the military plays in checking Iranian aggression. McKenzie looks more like he’s making a political statement than anything else.
McKenzie owes Trump and Pompeo an apology for contradicting U.S. actions against Iran in the Persian Gulf. When civilian contractor Nawres Waleed Hamid was killed by an Iranian militia Dec. 27, 2019, it had Qassam Soleiman’s fingerprints all over its As al-Quds’ leader, Soleimani was responsible for targeted assassinations of U.S. civilians and military personnel operating in the Middle East. It was no accident when predator drone attack took Soleimani out Jan. 4, 2019, responding directly to Iran’s aggression toward the U.S. and its allies. Why McKenzie thinks it’s appropriate to contradict Pompeo is anyone’s guess. Pompeo knows what the U.S. must do with Iran after backing out May 8, 2018 of the JCPOA, with an attempt to stop Iran from attacking Saudi Arabia with Yemen’s Houthi rebels. When Iran continued its proxy war against Saudi Arabia, the U.S. had no choice but to back out of JCPOA.
McKenzie’s insubordination warrants a conversation with 62-year-old Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Miley. Members of the Pentagon must be on the same page as the White House. Saying U.S. forces were not part of the White House maximum pressure campaign looks foolish, when the U.S. Navy patrolling the Persian Gulf was just given the green light to fire on Iran’s swift boats. “I would assess that right now we’re in a period of what I would call contested deterrence with Iran,” McKenzie said, refusing to confirm it’s part of the White House maximum pressure campaign. “I think the Iranians have had to recalculate because they did not believe that we could actually take action,” McKenzie said, confirming Trump and Pompeo’s policy of maximum pressure, giving the Navy the green light to respond to Iranian aggression. McKenzie’s disconnect with Pompeo can’t continue.
