Gen. David Petraeus claimed President Trump’s decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani could help deter future attacks against American interests.
Petraeus, 67, outlined the series of attacks that have been carried out by Iranian proxy groups against U.S. interests during a Sunday interview on Face the Nation. He noted that in June, Iran shot down a multimillion-dollar U.S. drone, then bombed oil refineries in Saudi Arabia well before the latest series of attacks on American assets in Iraq, including the death of an American contractor and the attack on the U.S. embassy.
Petraeus, who led U.S. forces in Iraq during the surge, claimed that the United States had lost the ability to deter attacks by Iran after allowing several smaller attacks to go by without a military response.
“What has happened here, I think, is frankly that we lost the element of deterrence, the component of deterrence that was seen as American will. Our $130 million drone was shot down. We did nothing significant in response. Five percent of the world’s oil production taken out of operation, numerous attacks on shipping, and then attacks on our forces ultimately, of course, killing an American and wounding four of our soldiers,” explained Petraeus.
He added, “So, ultimately, the president appears to have decided that it was necessary to take an action to sure up deterrence, to show that we were not going to accept this.”
Petraeus said he’s not sure how Iran will respond, though he believes the country will continue to act via proxy groups rather than direct combat with the U.S. He also hoped to see diplomatic efforts in the region to de-escalate tensions with minimal physical conflict.
