LEILA FADEL, HOST:
For more on this, let's bring in retired Army four-star General Joseph Votel, who's been listening with us. He led U.S. Central Command from 2016 through 2019, overseeing military operations across the Middle East. He now chairs the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. General, good morning, and thank you for joining us.
JOSEPH VOTEL: Good morning, Leila.
FADEL: I want to start where we heard our correspondent leave off. I mean, what, in your view, could possible new strikes do that previous attacks didn't?
VOTEL: Well, a new strike could degrade Iran. But it - as your reporter stated, it's unlikely to settle the war. We've hit a lot of these targets before. Iran has demonstrated some ability to rebuild them. So our strikes can buy us time. They can punish Iran. They can further degrade some of their capabilities. But they have not been effective, to this date, in terms of changing Tehran's calculus for the direction of the war.
FADEL: Well, I mean, what could shift Iran's calculus? 'Cause from where I'm sitting, I see a regime that's gotten more hard-line, more dug in, more willing to be bold in its counterattacks and its threats.
VOTEL: Well, I think, first and foremost, a very clear objective of what we want to achieve with this war. What does the end state look like? How do we declare that we are done? My personal view as - is that I think that gets to kind of the enrichment issue, and it gets to the opening of Hormuz. But what done looks like is it looks like a specific objective, and then military pressure and economic pressure and diplomatic pressure and information pressure all geared to achieve that end. So military pressure is one part of it, but you need all the other elements of national power as well.
FADEL: Are you seeing any of those other elements entering the fray here?
VOTEL: Well, we certainly are seeing the financial element of power with the blockade, with a number of the sanctions that we put on - I mean, the reporting that the Iranian ghost fleet is out of oil. These all really contribute to kind of the economic objectives that we have to try to isolate and put maximum amount of pressure on this. So that's one area where we are making some very, very significant progress. That takes time, but there's definitely movement in that direction.
FADEL: Do you have a clear understanding of the U.S. goal here at this point?
VOTEL: Well, I think it has been somewhat challenging to understand exactly what we're doing. I think a lot of it does get down to getting the Straits of Hormuz open so that commerce, oil and other things can continue to move through there much more freely. And at a rate that is much more reduced, that's going to, you know, drive down the cost of our gas and diesel and everything else. I think that's one. And then a second - the second thing, I think, is - has been the nuclear weapons program.
So, I mean, I think those are the things we're most concerned about. Of course, Iran is doing other things. They are using their proxies to cause problems and instability across the region. They do have a link here to the Houthis that are causing problems on the other side of the peninsula. So - but I think it is the Strait of Hormuz, and I think it is the enrichment program that we are principally concerned about.
FADEL: What do you think it would take to get to the negotiating table to try to find a way out of this situation?
VOTEL: Well, first and foremost, I think it does take a very clear articulation of what our objectives are and then a gearing of our elements of national power, whether it's the military campaign or economic or our diplomacy, really focused on those types of things and then having the patience to kind of see that through. So I definitely think that's kind of what this looks like from a larger perspective.
FADEL: What's your understanding of how well-equipped the U.S. military is to continue strikes and defend U.S. bases and partners in the Gulf?
VOTEL: I think U.S. offensive power in the region is substantial. I think we can strike. I don't think that's the question. I think if there is a - is an area where there may be some concern, it is in the missile defense. It's in the defensive aspect of our operations. You know, when you do conduct military operations, you have to be prepared to defend over time as well. And as we've seen in previous reporting and - yeah - that there has been a lot of pressure put on kind of our defensive interceptors that are critical for not only protecting U.S. forces, but for protecting our partners in the region, protecting critical infrastructure. So offensive capability - I think we are where we need to be. The defensive capability may be the area where there is a bit of a constraint.
FADEL: Retired General and former CENTCOM Commander Joseph Votel. Thank you so much for your time and your insights.
VOTEL: Thanks, Leila. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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