Dan Caine Warns Trump of Depleting Munitions and the Impact of Strikes on Tehran

ARK News.. The U.S. Army Chief of Staff, General Dan Caine, has warned during recent meetings with senior advisers to President Donald Trump that military options against Iran should not be assessed solely on the basis of air power, arguing that its capabilities are limited and may not achieve all of Washington’s strategic objectives.

According to a report by CNN, citing three sources familiar with the discussions, General Caine raised these assessments with senior Trump administration officials, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Vice President JD Vance.

According to the sources, U.S. military leaders believe that while American air power is capable of inflicting significant damage on Iranian military infrastructure, achieving broader political objectives could require more extensive operations, including consideration of a ground option in military planning, despite Trump’s opposition so far to deploying ground forces.

The report said that a plan was drawn up at the end of July for a new and powerful strike against Iran and that Trump was initially prepared to approve it. However, he later backed away following contacts from U.S. allies in the Middle East, who warned that Iran could retaliate by targeting energy facilities and critical infrastructure across the region.

One of the key concerns reportedly raised by General Caine with Trump was the significant decline in U.S. stocks of certain types of key weapons and missiles.

U.S. military leaders are reportedly concerned that ammunition stocks could reach critical levels, potentially limiting Washington’s ability to sustain a large-scale military operation over an extended period.

The Trump administration is currently considering several options, including continuing airstrikes and expanding the target list or escalating operations to more complex levels if air power fails to produce the desired results. Another option under consideration is using military pressure as leverage to reach a political agreement, including an arrangement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

According to the report, General Caine is seeking to give Trump a clear assessment of the potential consequences of any military escalation, enabling the president to weigh different levels of confrontation while avoiding a direct slide into a large-scale ground war.

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