Retired Gen. Frank McKenzie, the former commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), warned Sunday that U.S. forces are “vulnerable” to an attack by Iran or one of its proxies.
“Our forces distributed across Iraq and Syria, supporting the dark forces of Iraq and anti-ISIS operations and supporting our SDF partners in eastern Syria. Those forces are vulnerable to an Iranian or an Iranian proxy attack. We recognize that. I think that’s why the president’s been very forceful in warning them,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Iran launched a missile and drone attack against Israel over the weekend, but U.S. forces and Israeli forces intercepted most of the attacks before they entered Israel. Iran said that the attack was a retaliation.
McKenzie also noted that Iran did not choose to attack the U.S., adding that Iran understands that the U.S. has the capability to hurt Iran significantly if they choose to attack.
“Now it’s also very instructive that the Iranians did not choose to attack us, as they conducted a major strategic attack on Israel. So they listened to that. The Iranians know that we have the capability, if they choose to fight us, to hurt them very badly. And I think that the Iranians will think long and hard before undertaking attacks against us in the future,” he continued.
He also said that Israel should coordinate a “narrow” attack if it wants to respond to Iran.
“You want to make sure that it’s a — it has a definable beginning and a definable end, and the Iranians know when it’s over. But the fact of the matter is, Israel can name its price right now. And that’s a very heady position to be in,” he said.
“But it’s also a position that calls for exercise of strategic restraint, and a view to the long term. And Israel has an opportunity here, I think, to demonstrate that, and to seize the diplomatic initiative, really, in an arena where they struggled to do it over the past few months,” he added.