Latest news with #CENTCOM
Fox News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Kurilla warfare: Meet the general leading US military forces in the Middle East amid Iran conflict
Army Gen. Michael "Erik" Kurilla is no stranger to conflict, especially in the Middle East. Two decades ago as a lieutenant colonel, he was at the front lines of combat fighting off insurgents in Mosul, Iraq, while leading the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment. The battalion's mission was to conduct security patrols and coordinate offensive attacks against anti-Iraqi insurgents targeting Iraqi security forces and Iraqi police stations. During Kurilla's tenure leading the battalion, more than 150 soldiers earned the Purple Heart for injuries, and the battalion lost at least a dozen soldiers, The New York Times reported in August 2005. "There will always be somebody willing (to) pick up an AK-47 and shoot Americans," Kurilla told The New York Times in August 2005. Kurilla did not complete that deployment unscathed. Later, in August 2005, Kurilla found himself caught in a Mosul, Iraq, firefight, where he sustained multiple gunshot wounds, earning him a Bronze Star with valor and one of his two Purple Heart awards. Now, Kurilla is facing another battle as the commander of U.S. Central Command, or CENTCOM, serving as the top military officer overseeing U.S. military forces based in the Middle East. That means Kurilla, who attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, is at the forefront of military operations as President Donald Trump contemplates whether to engage in military strikes against Iran's nuclear sites. CENTCOM is one of the U.S. military's 11 combatant commands and encompasses 21 nations in the Middle East in its area of operations, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Those familiar with Kurilla claim he's the perfect person for the job. Retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, described Kurilla as the ideal leader for CENTCOM in 2022 when Biden nominated Kurilla for the role. "If there ever was some way to feed into a machine the requirements for the perfect leader of CENTCOM — the character traits, the attributes, the experiences, the knowledge and the personality that would be ideal — that machine would spit out Erik Kurilla," Milley said in 2022, according to the Defense Department. "Erik's got vast experience in combat (and) on staffs. "He's a visionary, he's a thinker and he's a doer," Milley said. "He understands both the physical and human terrain and is able to identify root causes of problems and develop systems. He's not at all a linear thinker. He's actually a very gifted problem-solver." Retired Marine Corps Gen. Frank McKenzie, Kurilla's CENTCOM predecessor, voiced similar sentiments. "I can't think of anybody better qualified to lead CENTCOM's next chapter than Erik Kurilla," McKenzie said in 2022, according to the Pentagon. "He's no stranger to the CENTCOM (area of operations). He's no stranger to the headquarters." Notable figures who've previously filled the job leading CENTCOM include former defense secretaries, retired Gen. Jim Mattis, who served during Trump's first term, and retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, who served during former President Joe Biden's administration. Fox News Digital reached out to CENTCOM, the Department of Defense, McKenzie and Milley for comment and did not get a response by the time of publication. The region is familiar territory for Kurilla. The general spent a decade between 2004 and 2014 overseeing conventional and special operations forces during consecutive tours in the Middle East that fell under the CENTCOM purview. Additionally, Kurilla has served in key CENTCOM staff and leadership positions, including serving as the command's chief of staff from August 2018 to September 2019. Prior to leading CENTCOM, the general also commanded the 2nd Ranger Battalion, the 75th Ranger Regiment, the 82nd Airborne Division and the XVIII Airborne Corps, according to his official bio. In addition to deploying to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Inherent Resolve, he deployed to Afghanistan with Operation Enduring Freedom. Other awards he's earned include the Combat Infantryman Badge, awarded to Army infantry or special forces officers who've encountered active ground combat. Kurilla, who the Senate confirmed to lead CENTCOM in February 2022 and will exit the role later in 2025, told lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee June 10 that, since October 2023, when Hamas first attacked Israel, American service members have faced increased threats in the region. Specifically, he said, U.S. troops have come under direct fire by nearly 400 unmanned aerial systems, 350 rockets, 50 ballistic missiles and 30 cruise missiles launched by Iranian-backed groups. He said CENTCOM has encountered the "most highly kinetic period than at any other time in the past decade." "We have been at the brink of regional war several times with the first state-on-state attacks between Iran and Israel in their history," Kurilla told lawmakers. "In the Red Sea, Houthi attempts to kill Americans operating in the Red Sea necessitated an aggressive response to protect our sailors and mariners and restore freedom of navigation. This is while Tehran is continuing to progress towards a nuclear weapons program — threatening catastrophic ramifications across the region and beyond." As a result, Kurilla said CENTCOM is prepared to use military force to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed state. Kurilla said he has provided Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth a host of options to employ to eliminate the threat of a nuclear Iran. Since Kurilla's testimony, tensions have escalated even further in the Middle East after Israel kicked off massive airstrikes against Iran's nuclear sites that Israel claims have killed several high-ranking military leaders. Likewise, Iran also launched strikes against Israel as the two ramp up military campaigns against one another. Trump is still navigating whether the U.S. will conduct direct strikes against Iran. Trump told reporters he may order strikes targeting Iranian nuclear sites and that the "next week is going to be very big." "Yes, I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do," Trump said. "I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate."
Express Tribune
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Slugfest in the Middle East
Listen to article Slugfest, yes; but of no ordinary consequences. It will take the world to keep it contained. Iran in the western construct is Middle East, not West Asia, and it is important to note. It comes under the geographical responsibility of US Central Command that oversees the Middle East. Israel too is a part as is Pakistan on its eastern most boundary. Nothing moves in the US CENTCOM AOR without its consent or at least without its notice. To imagine anything else is naïve. That is why the CENTCOM was created with its forward Headquarters conveniently placed in Al Udeid in Doha, Qatar. General Kurilla, the CENTCOM Chief, knows it all. Dial back a few weeks. President Trump wanted a 'deal' with Iran on the Nuclear Enrichment issue. Iran too wanted to settle now that a more aggressive administration was in power in Washington with its own peculiar worldview and willingness to support Israel to establish its dominance over the Middle East. For the more pliable wary of Israeli prowess there exist the Abraham Accords to help secure their future for Israel's acceptability only if Iran, the remaining stumbling block, could be subdued. The Houthis in Yemen would then easily acquiesce too. Iran's aspiration to be a nuclear power was already established. Agreement with the P5+1 had laid limits on Iran's ambition (Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty). But then Trump chose to dump the Agreement in 2018, three years after the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) was first signed. It opened the space for Iran to pursue its nuclear enrichment programme at its own pace. The IAEA could visit to inspect if Iran was complying to the limits of enrichment levels and the stockpiled enriched uranium. Iran though built in greater ambiguity. It is said that Iran moved significantly ahead of its below-5 per cent limit on enrichment under the Agreement and held a significantly higher value of stockpiled enriched uranium than stipulated. In 2023 it was reported that Iran had enriched up to and over 83 per cent level. It was barely short of the magical 90 per cent mark to turn into a weapon. Trump in his second term, aware of the leeway the US exit had afforded Iran, sought an immediate renegotiation of the deal to rein Iran in. Implicitly he may have had in mind to reinforce his credentials of a deal and a peacemaker before the Alfred Nobel Committee. Israel did not seem to agree nor did some from within Trump's team. Donald Trump's was the stated position. More likely it left space for its partner, Israel, to eliminate or at the least significantly degrade Iran's nuclear programme as a living and present danger to Israel's long-term health and security. Iran had/has two major nuclear enrichment facilities, one at Natanz, that Israel struck with some effect in the ongoing war with Iran, and at Fordow near Qom, which is far more sophisticated and secure where enrichment levels are suspected to have been breached. When Iran was reluctant to enter negotiations, Trump declared a sixty-day window for Iran to agree to a deal proposed by the US, else the cost to Iran would be heavy and unbearable in military terms. Five rounds down and sixth on the anvil when it was more than likely that Iran was coming around to agree on most terms, Israel attacked Iran. It was the sixty-first day from the day Trump had announced the window of opportunity. Coincidence? Or a well deliberated execution? I don't think it needs much thought. What has followed since June 13 has been a conflagration ready to envelop the whole region unless handled with care. Both sides rain missiles on each other and wreak untold pain and misery. Soon, civilian populations will be the victims to test and breach their threshold of tolerance and of the two societies and their political masters. In a slugfest, one who can absorb more is usually the one to prevail. Mohammad Ali, the late Boxing Champion, perfected this art and established a psychological edge over his opponent by inviting him to give him body blows. The national character of Iran and its thousands of years of civilisational history and the size of its population hold it in better stead than Israel which is still young as a nation even if it boasts of a history of suffering over centuries. In the Iranian character, death is celebrated albeit with remorse; in the Israeli experience suffering and victimhood is emphasised to gain empathy. These two characteristics will hugely define the ultimate victor in the civilisational sense. Either Iran will now run out of its missiles or Israel will breach its threshold of pain. Each may be the first sign for that side to find accommodation or exhaust itself to desperate resort. How might Iran's nuclear programmes be affected will depend on the damage the programme suffers, possibly delaying the timeline for weaponising its ability – an important Israel-US aim for this war. Negotiations will surely follow when the war finally ends but how much Iran may give to the US will depend on how Iran has fared in the war in perceptions and in real terms. If Iran seems to have held her line resolutely the regime and the ongoing system in power will sustain and survive – it can surely outrun Israel in this madmen race. Or if the US offers it a chance for peace on terms that may save the regime and buy time and keep foundations of Iran's nuclear programme, Iran may take that route. It would be prudent in a long game. It will also save the region from chaos, uncertainty and falling dominoes which are sure to follow. Regime change, the deeper or implicit political objective, is a more complicated and extended effect of the war and where might it first happen, Iran or Israel, is moot. What is of essence here is that Israel and its supporters are now loudly calling for the US to intervene on Israel's behalf; that Israel with its existing capacity cannot complete the mission of eliminating Iran's nuclear programme. Iran's resilience and unexpectedly ferocious response on an overly sensitive Israeli psyche to the losses amidst their population centers is the key to shout for the patron to come to the rescue. Israel stands exposed with its civilisational inadequacies. This is Iran's great achievement. Similarly, were Trump to jump in and directly attack Iranian assets it shall not only be an act of desperation but will also puncture Trump's long held position of withdrawing from forever wars. Iraq is what he always refers to as an example. Iran will still survive despite Fordow but what carnage may ensue at the US installations in the Middle East will only expand, engorge and envelop all the Middle East which will be rendered chaotic, explosive and uncontrollable for years to come. Iraq, Libya and Syria stand as sorry examples of such ill-thought adventurism. More likely better sense will prevail despite Netanyahu's Israel.
Time of India
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
As US weighs Iran strike, Pakistan tries to recast itself as anti-terror ally — and India is watching closely
New Delhi: India is watching closely as Pakistan tries to reinvent itself as a victim of terrorism and is seeking to find a place as a key actor against extremism and a possible ally to the US in the conflict with Iran. By several accounts, the meeting between Pakistani Field Marshal Asim Munir and US President Donald Trump lasted almost three hours, extending beyond the one hour allocated, and included key US administration advisors for West Asia. The growing conflict in the region - with the attack on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israel overshadowing other issues and increasingly pointing towards a US intervention - has placed Pakistan in an advantageous position that it will try to leverage, people tracking the situation say. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Új nyári női ortopéd szandálok 2025-re! Vásárolj most At the core of Pakistani moves, sources feel, is an attempt to rebrand itself from a fountainhead of terrorism to a victim that is seeking Western help to counter outfits that present threats to the West. This is an old plot that Pakistan has successfully played against the West in the past before the discovery of Osama Bin Laden at Abbottabad and the subsequent distancing of the US administration and pulling back of military aid. A renewed attempt is being made, with the Iran crisis coming at a particularly fortunate time for Pakistan as the US looks for allies who can pressurise Tehran and provide support in case American forces decide to enter the battlefield. Sources said Pakistan has managed to find some success in getting to Washington DC by exploiting the gap in the Pentagon that exists due to the structuring of its military commands across the world. The US Central Command (CENTCOM), which deals with Pakistan, is at the centre of action right now due to the troubles in West Asia. Live Events The Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) which deals with India and China was earlier more central to decision-making and planning in Washington DC. Its views of Pakistan as a close partner of China, increasingly dependent on Beijing for military equipment, training and intelligence, were a counter to the CENTCOM's motives of using Pakistani support for anti-terror operations in its area of responsibility. Sources said Pakistan is likely to use the situation to play the US against China, though in the long term it will remain dependent on Beijing for weapons, training and funding. The worry is, that in the short run, Pakistan may bargain to get access to US equipment and technology in the garb of fighting terror. It has been seen in the past, including when India attacked terror camps in Balakot in 2019, that equipment provided to Pakistan to fight terrorism were used against India. Also at stake for India will be the partnership with the US that has been growing in the military sphere and includes plans to co-develop cutting edge weapon systems. India has been increasing its dependence on the US for critical defence equipment, including engines for indigenous LCAs, maritime surveillance equipment and satellite imagery. The difference is that while India is seeking technology and equipment from the US to counter an increasingly aggressive China, Pakistan may try to seek the same against India, in the garb of fighting terrorism.
Fox News
13 hours ago
- Politics
- Fox News
Arab allies recognize Iran's danger, lawmakers say, as region views regime change cautiously
EXCLUSIVE: Top congressional Iran hawks were about to depart for the U.S. from the Middle East on Wednesday, when two members of the delegation spoke to Fox News Digital about what they were seeing on the ground. Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, and Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., said they visited Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and were in the United Arab Emirates as of Tuesday, meeting with leaders and discussing the armed conflict between Israel and Iran. "Over the course of the last week, we have seen just a dramatic escalation, particularly by Iran threatening the region," he said, adding that he is also spearheading the Iranian Maximum Pressure Campaign Act, which comprises 47 pieces that give President Donald Trump leverage over Iranian "Supreme Leader" Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei. Nunn, a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force – who conducted intel-reconnaissance missions off Russia and China – said Gen. Erik "Gorilla" Kurilla has his "full support" after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated Tuesday he would defer to the CENTCOM commander on Iranian strategy. "[Kurilla] has been very clear here that Iran needs to take the offramp from its nuclear enrichment program. In fact, he was one of the ones that highlighted here the real threat coming from a nuclear Iran, both to its neighbor Israel, and other nations across the Middle East. The United States has a very important role to play here in deterrence," he said. Arab allies like the UAE recognize that Iran presents the greatest "existential threat" to peace in the Middle East, Nunn said, adding that as a veteran of the War on Terror, he doesn't want to see U.S. service members return to combat in the region. Forty thousand troops, however, are stationed in non-combat roles in the region, and are in range of Iranian weapons if Tehran escalates. Nunn warned that the porous southern border has also opened up the likelihood that Iranian proxies are already inside the U.S., and cited reports Tehran was connected in some way to the assassination attempt on Trump in Pennsylvania. He and Panetta, son of former CIA Director Leon Panetta, said the reason they came together in a bipartisan showing to Mideast leaders was that while they may not disagree politically on every issue, Congress is united with Mideast allies. "There's a real opportunity here for our Arab partners and Israel to stand together in deterring Iran. The U.S. should not be the policeman for the world. There are certain capabilities that only the United States can provide in this scenario. That includes deep penetration strikes to eliminate the nuclear reactor and the enrichment program that Iran's produced. But ultimately, this is also up to the Iranian people to decide what they want for their future." Panetta said he hopes the trip helped lay an even stronger basis for other nations to align with the Abraham Accords forged by Trump in his first term. "The conflict between Israel and Iran broke out on Thursday, before the Friday we were to get here. And so that sort of changed a few things and unfortunately prevented us from going into Israel. However, we were able to have very substantive meetings with some of the leadership in Saudi Arabia, in Bahrain, and here in the United Arab Emirates before we have to fly out tonight," Panetta said. "And what we heard consistently is -- none of them want a nuclear-armed Iran." Like Nunn, Panetta also does not want boots on the ground, saying that when or if Tehran's government falls or surrenders, as Trump wants, the change must come "from within." Members of both parties aren't looking to trigger regime change through force, he said, but they do want to see Tehran's nuclear ambitions defeated. And, when it comes to concerns about stability – after seeing Iraq and Libya falter after strongmen were ousted – it will be up to the Iranian people at that point how to proceed, the lawmakers said. "The purpose of Israel's bombing, at least from what we've heard, was to destroy their nuclear capabilities. It was not for regime change," Panetta said. "However, if the people see this as an opportunity, then that's something that basically, I think now more than ever, would be the right time for the people of Iran to rise up." Given the rare bipartisan agreement on the Iran issue in an otherwise fractured political environment, the Democrat added that he will always work with anyone to support both his constituents, and whoever, including Trump, wants to have substantive discussions to solve pressing problems like Iran's nuclear capabilities, "forever wars," and that Israel retains the right to defend itself. "[Those] are bipartisan issues that I think we can work together on," Panetta said.
Miami Herald
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Satellite Imagery Shows Evacuation at Largest U.S. Air Base in Middle East
Satellite imagery showed U.S. aircraft have vacated a key air base in Qatar, in another sign that a confrontation with Iran could be imminent. Newsweek has reached out to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) for comment. The disappearance of the aircraft could indicate that strikes on Iran are seeing as a growing possibility and that therefore Iranian attacks on U.S. bases are seen as a bigger threat. It also comes as a significant movement of tankers and vessels has been taking place in the Middle East since Iran launched retaliatory missile attacks on Israel in response to the targeting of its nuclear, missile and military sites. The U.S. has also deployed additional military equipment to the region. Satellite images shared by open-intelligence analysts on X, formerly Twitter, revealed that Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a key hub for U.S. and British aerial tankers, surveillance, and transport aircraft, appeared empty. The key base holds the U.S. CENTCOM Forward Headquarters. The U.S. Embassy in Qatar has also issued two security warnings against going to the base. The U.S. began evacuating nonessential diplomats and their families from the American embassy in Israel earlier this week. There are around 700,000 Americans or dual citizens currently in Israel and thousands more in Iran and neighboring Middle East countries. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said launched a wave of strikes on Thursday, targeting the inactive nuclear reactor in Arak, a nuclear weapons development site near Natanz, ballistic missile & air defense production facilities, radar systems & missile storage sites. U.S. State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce in press briefing Tuesday: "When it comes to how quickly people can expect a dynamic – the American government, the State Department, our military – you've seen all of these assets, all of these departments involved in this dynamic in one fashion or another – are working exclusively for the safety of this nation and the safety of the American people, wherever they may be." Karen Sudkamp, Associate Director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program at RAND said in published Q&A: "The United States evacuated nonessential personnel prior to Israel's strike from Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates-countries that could receive initial attacks against U.S. personnel should Tehran choose to include American targets in its response. U.S. naval assets are also moving towards the Middle East as defensive forces." A decision from the president regarding the next course of action on Iran could decide whether or not there is an attack by U.S. forces or whether curbs on Iran's nuclear program can be agreed through diplomacy. Related Articles U.S. Issues Security Warning for Biggest Middle East BaseIran Starts Firing Heavier Missiles in Israel AttacksUS Ally Reveals Chinese Military Activity Near American BaseIsrael Says Iran's Supreme Leader 'Cannot Continue to Exist': Live Updates 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
