Latest news with #DanCaine
Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Irish Times
Israel-Iran: Trump caution on US involvement linked to doubts about ‘bunker buster' bomb
Donald Trump has suggested to defence officials it would make sense for the US to launch strikes against Iran only if the so-called 'bunker buster' bomb was guaranteed to destroy the critical uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Mr Trump was told that dropping the GBU-57s, a 13.6-tonne bomb would effectively eliminate Fordow, but he does not appear to be fully convinced, the people said, and has held off authorising strikes as he also awaits the possibility that the threat of US involvement would lead Iran to talks. The effectiveness of GBU-57s has been a topic of deep contention at the Pentagon since the start of Mr Trump's term, according to two defence officials who were briefed that perhaps only a tactical nuclear weapon could be capable of destroying Fordow because of how deeply it is buried. Mr Trump is not considering using a tactical nuclear weapon on Fordow and the possibility was not briefed by defence secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen Dan Caine in meetings in the White House situation room, two people familiar with the matter said. READ MORE But the defence officials who received the briefing were told that using conventional bombs, even as part of a wider strike package of several GBU-57s, would not penetrate deep enough underground and that it would only do enough damage to collapse tunnels and bury it under rubble. Fordo nuclear site in Iran Those in the briefing heard that completely destroying Fordow, which Israeli intelligence estimates to go down as far as 90m, would require the US to soften the ground with conventional bombs and then ultimately drop a tactical nuclear bomb from a B2 bomber to wipe out the entire facility, a scenario Mr Trump is not considering. The assessments were made by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a component of the defence department that tested the GBU-57, as it reviewed the limitations of US military ordinance against a number of underground facilities. The situation underscores the complex nature of such a strike and what success would entail: dropping GBU-57s would likely set back Iran's ability to obtain weapons-grade uranium for up to a few years, but not end the programme completely. Spokespeople for the White House and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Taking Fordow offline – either diplomatically or militarily – is seen as central to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found the site had enriched uranium to 83.7 per cent – close to the 90 per cent needed for nuclear weapons. Any effort to destroy Fordow would require US involvement because Israel does not possess the ordnance to strike a facility that deep or the planes to carry them. The difficulty with using the GBU-57 to target Fordow, according to the two officials familiar with the DTRA briefing, lies in part with the characteristics of the facility which is buried inside a mountain – and the fact that the bomb has never been used in a comparable situation before. 'It would not be a one and done,' a former DTRA deputy director, retired Maj Gen Randy Manner, said of the GBU-57's limitations, adding that Fordow could be quickly rebuilt. 'It might set the programme back six months to a year. It sounds good for TV but it's not real.' The bomb is commonly known as a 'bunker buster' because it was designed to destroy underground bunkers, but it can be carried only by a B2 bomber that has air superiority and requires a solid GPS signal to lock in on its target. While Israel has said it has established air superiority over Iran, a successful strike would still require any GPS jammers and other defences to be taken out in advance, and for the GBU-57 to penetrate deep enough into the ground to neutralise the facility. Iran built the nuclear enrichment facility at Fordow underground to protect it from the threat of aerial attacks. In 1981, Israel bombed a nuclear facility near Baghdad that was located above ground in order to stop Iraq developing nuclear weapons. In recent years, Israel has devised a variety of plans to destroy Fordow without the help of the United States. In one instance, Israel proposed loading helicopters with commandos who could fight their way into the facility and blow it up – an option that Mr Trump has dismissed, according to people familiar with the matter. – Guardian
CBS News
a day ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Hegseth tells Senate panel he's giving Trump "options" amid intensifying Iran-Israel conflict
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to elaborate on potential U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, telling a Senate panel Wednesday his job is to ensure President Trump "has options and is informed of what those options might be." Hegseth and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine are testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, as the president mulls joining Israel's offensive against Iran. "My job, our job, chairman, is at all times to make sure we, the president, has options and is informed of what those options might be and what the ramifications of what those options might be," Hegseth said. He was responding to questions from Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who had asked if he had been asked "actively to provide options for the president regarding a strike in the Middle East." Shaheen noted the U.S. 40,000 troops stationed in the region, many of whom she said are "in range of Iranian missiles." Later in Hegseth's testimony, he said that Iran "had an opportunity to make a deal. They should have made a deal." "President Trump's word means something," Hegseth said. "The world understands that. And at the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options. And that's precisely what we're doing." On Tuesday night, some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle moved to limit Mr. Trump's ability to order U.S. strikes on Iran, on the grounds that many past presidents have found ways to avoid asking for congressional authority to declare war, although the Constitution confers Congress with the power to declare war. Mr. Trump on Wednesday explicitly said he's considering joining Israel in strikes on Iran, telling reporters, "I may do it, I may not do it, nobody knows what I'm going to do." When asked if it was "too late" to reach a deal with Iran, Mr. Trump said "nothing's too late." He added that the Iranians have reached out but Mr. Trump said he told them "it's really late. You know? I said it's very late to be talking. ... There's a big difference between now and a week ago." Mr. Trump said Iranian officials suggested coming to the White House, which he said was "courageous," but "not easy for them to do." The Iranian embassy said in response that "no Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House." Initially the Trump administration maintained that the U.S. was not involved and that Israel was acting unilaterally. But now, Mr. Trump is considering joining Israel in potential strikes against Iran's nuclear sites, including the secretive Fordo nuclear enrichment facility. The site is buried deep under a mountain, and military experts say Israel would need U.S. warplanes to drop so-called "bunker-buster" bombs to penetrate the facility. Mr. Trump on Tuesday called for "unconditional surrender" by Iran's clerical rulers and threatened Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, saying the U.S. knew where he was but would not kill him — "at least not for now." The president added, "Our patience is wearing thin." Khamenei, in his Wednesday address, called Mr. Trump's ultimatum "unacceptable." Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told Al Jazeera English Wednesday that any U.S. involvement would result in an "all-out war." Democratic Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, criticized Hegseth and told him that while he's been at the helm, the Pentagon has been "paralyzed by infighting and stripped of expert staff at a time when we need stability and professionalism." Hegseth responded with a statement that the Defense Department is "executing a common-sense agenda to achieve peace through strength."
CNN
11-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Analysis: Trump's top general just undercut his ‘invasion' claims
One of the problems with making a series of brazen and hyperbolic claims is that it can be hard to keep everyone on your team on the same page. And few Trump administration claims have been as brazen as the idea that the Venezuelan government has engineered an invasion of gang members into the United States. This claim forms the basis of the administration's controversial efforts to rapidly deport a bunch of people it claimed were members of the gang Tren de Aragua – without due process. But one of the central figures responsible for warding off such invasions apparently didn't get the memo. At a Senate hearing Wednesday, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine acknowledged that the United States isn't currently facing such a threat. 'I think at this point in time, I don't see any foreign state-sponsored folks invading,' Caine said in response to Democratic questioning. This might sound like common sense; of course the United States isn't currently under invasion by a foreign government. You'd probably have heard something about that on the news. But the administration has said – repeatedly and in court – that it has been. When Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly deport migrants without due process, that law required such a foreign 'invasion' or 'predatory incursion' to make his move legal. And Trump said that's what was happening. 'The result is a hybrid criminal state that is perpetrating an invasion of and predatory incursion into the United States, and which poses a substantial danger to the United States,' reads the proclamation from Trump. It added that Tren de Aragua's actions came 'both directly and at the direction, clandestine or otherwise, of the Maduro regime in Venezuela.' So the White House said Tren de Aragua was acting in concert with the Maduro regime to invade; Caine now says 'state-sponsored folks' aren't invading. Some flagged Caine's comment as undermining Trump's claims of a foreign 'invasion' in Los Angeles. Trump has regularly applied that word to undocumented migrants. But the inconsistency is arguably more significant when it comes to Trump's claims about the Venezuelan migrants. Perhaps the administration would argue that Trump has halted the invasion and it is no longer happening; Caine was speaking in the present tense. Caine did go on to cite others who might have different views. 'But I'll be mindful of the fact that there has been some border issues throughout time, and defer to DHS who handles the border along the nation's contiguous outline,' he said. But if an invasion had been happening recently, it seems weird not to mention that. And if the invasion is over, that would seem to undercut the need to keep trying to use the Alien Enemies Act. The Department of Homeland Security is certainly not in the camp of no invasion. On Wednesday, DHS posted on Facebook an image with Uncle Sam that reads: 'Report all foreign invaders' with a phone number for ICE. When asked about the image and whether the use of the term 'foreign invaders' had been used previously, DHS pointed CNN to a number of posts from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller using terms like 'invade' or 'invaders' when referring to undocumented immigrants. Plenty of Trump administration figures have gone to bat for this claim. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said soon after Trump's proclamation that Tren de Aragua gang members 'have been sent here by the hostile Maduro regime in Venezuela.' Then-national security adviser Michael Waltz claimed Maduro was emptying his prisons 'in a proxy manner to influence and attack the United States.' We soon learned that the intelligence community had concluded Venezuela had not directed the gang. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio stood by Trump's claim. 'Yes, that's their assessment,' Rubio said last month about the intelligence community. 'They're wrong.' Trump administration border czar Tom Homan has said the gang was an 'arm of the Maduro regime,' and that Maduro's regime was 'involved with sending thousands of Venezuelans to this country to unsettle it.' The question of Venezuela's purported involvement actually hasn't been dealt with much by the courts. A series of judges have moved to block the administration's Alien Enemies Act gambit, but they've generally ruled that way because of the lack of an 'invasion' or 'predatory incursion' – without delving much into the more complex issue of whether such a thing might somehow have ties to Maduro's government. One of the judges to rule in that fashion was a Trump appointee, US District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. So the intelligence community and a bunch of judges – including a Trump-appointed one – have rebutted the claim the underlies this historic effort to set aside due process. And now, the man Trump installed as his top general seems to have undercut it too.
Washington Post
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Trump's top general contradicts his assessment of Putin, L.A. unrest
Gen. Dan Caine, who since becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in April has assiduously avoided the public spotlight, on Wednesday broke with President Donald Trump's assessment of the threat posed by Russia and the ongoing protests and violence in Los Angeles. Caine's comments during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing were restrained but significant, coming from the nation's top military officer whom Democrats and moderate Republicans had feared might show little appetite for going against a president prone to pushing falsehoods in pursuit of his political agenda.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Watch live: Hegseth, Joint Chiefs of Staff chair testify before Senate on Defense budget
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Dan Caine will testify Tuesday morning before the Senate Appropriations Committee on the Defense Department's fiscal 2026 budget request. The hearing comes as the administration has faced criticism over the deployment of troops to Los Angeles amid protests over local immigration raids. Hegseth testified before the House on Tuesday. The budget request includes a 13 percent spending increase focused on investments to 'strengthen the safety, security, and sovereignty of the homeland; deter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific; and revitalize the U.S. defense industrial base.' The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EDT. Watch the live video above. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
