Trump mulling two-week military op against Iranian ballistic missiles – report

American military commander in the Mideast is pushing plan for 10-14 day large-scale air campaign targeting Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of US forces in the Middle East, has developed a plan for up to two weeks of intensive airstrikes intended to severely weaken Iran’s remaining missile capabilities, as President Donald Trump considers how far to escalate the renewed conflict.

The proposal would involve 10 to 14 days of sustained attacks across Iran, significantly expanding on the shorter retaliatory operations carried out since the initial US-Israeli air campaign ended in April, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with internal military deliberations.

Trump has not decided whether to approve Cooper’s full plan or pursue a more limited response that could preserve the possibility of negotiations with Tehran.

US Central Command began a new round of strikes inside Iran on Wednesday night, one day after Iranian forces fired ballistic missiles at American troops in Jordan. CENTCOM called the operation a “powerful response” to the attempted attacks.

A US official said the latest operation would strike more targets across a broader area than previous rounds of retaliation, although officials did not immediately say whether it marked the beginning of Cooper’s proposed two-week campaign.

The debate reflects a broader disagreement over how the US can break the military stalemate without exhausting its shrinking stockpile of air-defense interceptors or becoming trapped in a prolonged war.

Cooper’s position is that limited retaliatory strikes have failed to deter Tehran from attacking American bases, threatening commercial shipping and disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. He believes the US must sharply increase offensive operations to destroy Iranian missiles and launchers before they can be used.

By reducing Iran’s ability to fire, Cooper has argued, the US would also reduce its need to expend scarce Patriot and THAAD interceptors defending troops and regional allies.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has taken a more cautious position, according to the report. Caine has warned the White House about the potential “second and third order consequences” of a larger campaign and the demands that another round of intensive fighting could place on US weapons inventories.

Caine is responsible for assessing threats worldwide, including the possibility that US missiles could also be needed to confront China, North Korea or Russia. Cooper’s responsibilities are concentrated on the Middle East and the immediate Iranian threat.

The dwindling interceptor supply would not necessarily prevent the US from returning to major combat operations, officials said, but it would increase the risks involved. Air defenses could be repositioned to provide greater protection for the most important American bases and facilities if the larger campaign proceeds.

The Pentagon has sought to present the senior commanders as united despite their differing assessments.

“Secretary Hegseth, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Cooper, and Chairman Caine stand completely aligned and are united in mission, strategy, and resolve regarding overseas operations involving Iran,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said.

“The Department of War is locked and loaded, ready to execute the President’s directives at a moment’s notice,” he added.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly been supportive of Cooper’s argument for a stronger offensive campaign.

Trump met Cooper, Caine and Hegseth aboard Air Force One last week after attending the dignified transfer of four American service members killed in the Iran war. The impromptu meeting gave Cooper a rare opportunity to present his thinking directly to the president.

Although Cooper has directed the war from CENTCOM headquarters in Tampa, Florida, he has generally had less direct access to Trump than Caine and Hegseth, who regularly brief the president at the White House.

Cooper has met Trump in person only a handful of times since the war began, according to the report, and the two have spoken by telephone only occasionally.

Trump indicated Wednesday that he had already decided to retaliate for Iran’s latest missile attack, while leaving the scope and duration of the response unclear.

“We’re going to beat the f—ing sh— out of them,” Trump told Fox News. “We’ll be hitting them hard.”

“We’re going to let them keep talking,” he added, suggesting military action would not necessarily bring diplomatic contacts to an end.

A senior administration official described Trump as being in “an escalatory mood” but said the president was still considering “the depth of that response.”

Iran fired several ballistic missiles toward US forces in Jordan on Tuesday in what CENTCOM described as an “attempted surprise attack.” The military said all the missiles were intercepted and that American forces remained at a high state of readiness.

The attack came less than two weeks after an earlier Iranian missile and drone strike on a base in Jordan killed three US service members. That attack and several subsequent Iranian operations have increased pressure on Trump to resume the large-scale bombing campaign suspended in April.

Cooper had originally calculated that US forces would require at least six weeks to complete their objectives when the joint American-Israeli campaign began on February 28.

By March 31, Cooper believed approximately 20 more days of attacks would still be needed to significantly degrade Iran’s military capabilities.

The campaign was cut short after an F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran in early April, triggering a dangerous operation to recover its two crew members. Both airmen were eventually rescued, but the incident contributed to Trump’s decision to seek a ceasefire several days later.

After the fighting stopped, Hegseth said Iran’s missile program had been “functionally destroyed” and described its launchers and missiles as “depleted and decimated.”

Subsequent US intelligence assessments concluded that Iran retained part of its missile arsenal. Trump said in June that Tehran might still possess roughly 21% to 22% of its original missile stockpile, while some independent analysts produced higher estimates.

Iran has since recovered launchers from underground facilities and adjusted its attack methods. Iranian forces have used new flight paths, maneuvering missiles and accompanying drones in attempts to overwhelm or evade American defenses.

Skeptics of Cooper’s proposal argue that the opening phase of the war demonstrated the limitations of air power against a large country with dispersed and heavily fortified weapons sites. The US and Israel repeatedly bombed missile factories, storage complexes and underground launch facilities, but Iran was eventually able to resume attacks.

Critics in Congress have also warned that another open-ended campaign could pull the US deeper into a conflict without a clearly achievable political end.

The pressure on US interceptor supplies has grown as American forces defend bases in the Middle East while continuing to provide military assistance to allies elsewhere. The Pentagon is seeking tens of billions of dollars to rebuild depleted munitions inventories, and the Army announced a contract worth up to $58.6 billion to increase production of Patriot interceptors.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Hegseth on Wednesday, one day after discussing Iran with Trump at the White House. Israeli aircraft could participate if Trump authorizes a return to major combat operations, according to officials familiar with the planning.

Netanyahu and Trump reviewed a range of options during their meeting, including renewed military attacks, continued economic pressure and possible diplomatic negotiations. An Israeli official said Netanyahu did not explicitly press Trump to launch an immediate strike.

The Wednesday operation has already gone beyond the previous pause in US attacks. The central decision facing Trump is whether it remains a large but limited act of retaliation or develops into the sustained campaign Cooper believes is necessary to cripple Iran’s ability to continue the war.

Ballistic missilesDonald TrumpIranIran war