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WASHINGTON – While neither the US nor Iran want present tensions in the Gulf to escalate into war, both are “moving [military] assets into position so that the option is available,” analyst Dakota Wood told Rudaw’s latest edition of The Washington Perspective, aired Friday.
Wood, a senior research fellow for defense programs at the Heritage Foundation think-tank based in Washington DC, and a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps, said the US deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier to the Persian Gulf does not necessarily mean America is on the brink of war.
“It takes ten days to sail by ship from the United States’ east coast into the Mediterranean, another week to get through the Mediterranean and into the Indian Ocean, and up into the Gulf of Oman,” Wood told Rudaw’s Washington correspondent Roj Eli Zalla.
Although US sanctions on Iran’s economy and oil sector have already proven extremely effective, America is not shying away from flexing its military muscles.
“This ‘maximum pressure’ and showing the hand of American military power – that we are there to secure our interests militarily, if that has to be the case – I think that’s a proper approach,” Wood said.
Moves in the Gulf have placed Iraq in a difficult position, balancing between both its US and Iranian allies. Baghdad needs to evaluate how it responds to various groups within its borders to keep external influences in check, Wood cautioned.
“There are so many peoples that have a long history... their own cultures,” he said. If the Iraqi government is not inclusive, representative, or fails to account for varying interests within the country, “then you’re going to have the influence of external groups like Iran that are supporting these Shiite militias.”
Asked whether Kurdish groups have a role to play in combating Iranian-backed forces, Wood warned the wider context, the aims of various groups, and how they fit in with US regional interests must be considered.
Wood, a senior research fellow for defense programs at the Heritage Foundation think-tank based in Washington DC, and a former Lieutenant Colonel in the Marine Corps, said the US deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier to the Persian Gulf does not necessarily mean America is on the brink of war.
“It takes ten days to sail by ship from the United States’ east coast into the Mediterranean, another week to get through the Mediterranean and into the Indian Ocean, and up into the Gulf of Oman,” Wood told Rudaw’s Washington correspondent Roj Eli Zalla.
Orders to use force do not necessarily need to be executed, said Wood. “But if you did need to support the US personnel... you would want to have that asset near at hand. So I think these preliminary, preparatory kinds of moves are appropriate,” he added.
Although US sanctions on Iran’s economy and oil sector have already proven extremely effective, America is not shying away from flexing its military muscles.
“This ‘maximum pressure’ and showing the hand of American military power – that we are there to secure our interests militarily, if that has to be the case – I think that’s a proper approach,” Wood said.
Moves in the Gulf have placed Iraq in a difficult position, balancing between both its US and Iranian allies. Baghdad needs to evaluate how it responds to various groups within its borders to keep external influences in check, Wood cautioned.
“There are so many peoples that have a long history... their own cultures,” he said. If the Iraqi government is not inclusive, representative, or fails to account for varying interests within the country, “then you’re going to have the influence of external groups like Iran that are supporting these Shiite militias.”
Asked whether Kurdish groups have a role to play in combating Iranian-backed forces, Wood warned the wider context, the aims of various groups, and how they fit in with US regional interests must be considered.
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