On Tuesday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “Katy Tur Reports,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) discussed the war in Iran and said that “however we can end this, I don’t know how we come out in a better situation than we were before this war started.” And “The idea that the American military, as good as it is, is going to be able to bomb Iran into subjugation, I think, we found, is not true. … So, if bombing isn’t going to get us there, if the only way we are going to accomplish the president’s goals is to put thousands of American troops on the ground for a never-ending war in the Middle East, then it comes down to what is the least bad option. And the least bad option may be trying to get us back to some status quo of where we were before we started the war, but, unfortunately, with an overhang on the Strait of Hormuz that, frankly, didn’t exist before this war started.”
Warner said, “I don’t think any of the president’s objectives when he started this war of choice are going to be met, in terms of regime change, getting the enriched uranium, cutting back on ballistic missiles. And, remember, before this war, the idea that some country would extract a toll through the Strait of Hormuz was not even discussed. So, I think the war needs to come to an end. And I think Donald Trump will even be pressed, with all of his bluster, to find a way to claim victory. But however we can end this, I don’t know how we come out in a better situation than we were before this war started. So, if he claims it’ll be in phases, so be it. Let’s see the details. But I’m not sure why he keeps adding more pressure. The idea that, somehow, all of the Arab states in the region, the Saudis, the Qataris, and others are going to join the Abraham Accords, Saudi Arabia’s already rejected that today. It feels like he’s building the hurdles even higher for him to, even in Trump-speak, be able to claim any kind of victory out of this misguided choice.”
Host Katy Tur then asked, “Do you think it’s a good idea to take whatever deal is on the table right now? Is it better to leave with Iran having leverage over the Strait and the ability to rebuild their missile capacity? There’s reporting and — that cited U.S. intelligence that said much of the capacity from the missiles is still intact, it just needs to be dug out of the rubble. And the uranium, the enriched uranium, is still also able to be dug out of the rubble. Is it a good idea to leave now with all of that still available to the Iranians?”
Warner answered, “Well, it was never a good idea to start this war of choice back in February. Now it becomes a question of what is the least bad option. The idea that the American military, as good as it is, is going to be able to bomb Iran into subjugation, I think, we found, is not true. Or if we were to go after all of the economic infrastructure in a dramatic way, clearly, all of the Gulf allies, Iran still has enough capacity to wreck the infrastructure of our Gulf allies, and, unfortunately, hit Israel as well, because we’ve used so many of our interceptors. So, if bombing isn’t going to get us there, if the only way we are going to accomplish the president’s goals is to put thousands of American troops on the ground for a never-ending war in the Middle East, then it comes down to what is the least bad option. And the least bad option may be trying to get us back to some status quo of where we were before we started the war, but, unfortunately, with an overhang on the Strait of Hormuz that, frankly, didn’t exist before this war started.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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