MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
For more on what the mission of U.S. troops in the Middle East might be, we've called retired General Joseph Votel. His long military career includes time as the commander of U.S. Central Command, overseeing military operations across the Middle East. He is now a distinguished military fellow at the Middle East Institute, which is a nonpartisan think tank. General, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
JOSEPH VOTEL: Good morning. Good to be with you.
MARTIN: So in your role at Central Command, you led the planning for potential military operations against Iran. As briefly as you can, what are some of the conditions and risks these forces have been trained for?
VOTEL: Well, certainly, the environment of the Middle East is a really, really challenging one. I think, as we know from our previous experience there that it does wear on units. It wears on equipment, so you have to be prepared for that. Of course, there are - these are heavily populated areas, so our troops have to be prepared to operate in areas where there are populations, and in many cases, populations that come under a variety of different influences. So all of these can be very, very difficult challenges, and the distances are very great. So we've got to be able to move forces over great distances and then sustain them. So when you think about the problems that a military commander is thinking through, certainly, that's the first level of detail that he or she has got to be considering.
MARTIN: What do you think are some of the most likely assignments for the troops in the region now?
VOTEL: Yeah. So I think there's three big challenges that the military is looking at right now. One is to stop these strikes, like Greg talked about a few moments ago, on Prince Sultan Air Base, certainly the Straits of Hormuz and then the highly enriched uranium. So I think around those three things are what we should be thinking about, about how ground troops might be used. They could be used for limited high-value raids to maybe take out of sight or to get control of something. They could seize terrain. They could be going in to - you know, just do some intelligence gathering. They could be going to one of these islands or going after some capabilities to assist with the maritime interdiction mission. So there's a variety of things they do, and then, of course, there's a variety of locations that they can go to.
MARTIN: So there's been a lot of talk about Kharg Island. We've heard the president talk about that recently. Iran has a lot of oil infrastructure there. In your experience, is Kharg Island a plausible target?
VOTEL: Well, I think it certainly is a plausible target, with 90% of the exported oil coming through there. It's certainly an economic target of significance for Iran. So our control of that - not necessarily destruction of it, but control of it - I think, you know, would have - would certainly have a big impact on the regime, since that is the primary way that they generate revenue to support their military. So Kharg Island clearly is an important target.
MARTIN: And the President has said the island could be taken, quote, "very easily." Do you share that assessment?
VOTEL: Well, I don't ever use words like that when we talk about doing military operations. Military commanders think about risk, and they're trying to always minimize the risk as much as they can. It's certainly within our ability to take that island, whether it's with Marines or paratroopers or some other forces there. But we are serious about all of these operations, and they'll be conducted, you know, with very high diligence to make sure that we protect our troops and accomplish the mission.
MARTIN: And, of course, there's the speculation that troops may be ordered to open the Strait of Hormuz. If that was the command, how would that actually work?
VOTEL: Well, there's a variety of things that could happen. With the ground troops, there are a number of islands that could be seized. Qeshm Island is where a lot of the boats and the maritime - and the Iranian maritime capability is. Larak Island there's weapons. And then there are several other islands that, you know, provide advantages to, you know, and help control the Strait of Hormuz. So the troops could do some of that. But at the same time, there's got to be a maritime force that is escorting ships. There's got to be air forces that are going after, you know, weapon systems, drones and missiles that could impact on this. So I think we have to think about this, not as a ground operation or just a Navy operation, we have to think about it as a true joint operation where the military will try to bring all of their capabilities to really dominate the Straits of Hormuz and ensure that we can move ships through it with confidence.
MARTIN: And we only have about 45 seconds left, but I do want to ask you about the safety of the troops. The New York Times reports that many U.S. service members work out of hotels and office parks because of the threat to U.S. bases in the region. Six U.S. reservists were killed, others injured in a drone strike on a tactical operation center in Kuwait. At least 15 U.S. soldiers wounded in an attack Friday on a Saudi base by the Iran-backed Houthis. In your assessment, is the Pentagon doing enough to defend these U.S. military interests in the region?
VOTEL: Well, I'm not surprised to hear some of these reports. And clearly, you know, we have a number of bases in the area, but all of them have been targeted. They're all known. So we've got to take appropriate measures. I think the concern that I would have as a commander trying to get forces ready to go, you've got to rehearse, you've got a stage. Some of those facilities may not really facilitate that. So I'm sure our commanders are working through all that. Again, we've got to protect the force before we can get onto our objectives.
MARTIN: That is Joseph Votel. He's a retired four-star general and a former commander of U.S. Central Command. General Votel, thank you so much.
VOTEL: Thanks. Good to be with you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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