GEN (ret.) Joseph Votel on NPR: U.S. Should Take Advantage of Israel’s “Protective Architecture” for Basing

JINSA Generals & Admirals Program participant and former CENTCOM Commander GEN (ret.) Joseph Votel joined NPR’s Morning Edition to offer a sobering assessment of the damage Iran has inflicted on U.S. regional basing, the vulnerability of fixed installations, and what Iran’s recent behavior reveals about its ultimate strategic objectives.

GEN (ret.) Votel said the damage to the U.S. basing network across the Middle East should be characterized as “substantial” in the sense that it is “widespread and operationally relevant,” with Iranian strikes hitting U.S. facilities in at least five countries in just the past 72 hours, destroying hangars, fuel depots, radars, satellite communications, air defense equipment, and troop locations. He argued this has forced the U.S. to “think differently” about how it bases and operates in the region, and outlined a range of options including hardening existing hubs, reducing exposure in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, shifting some functions westward, and selectively expanding use of Israeli facilities, leveraging Israel’s “very capable protective architecture.” On Gulf ally resilience, he warned that effective strikes against critical civilian or energy infrastructure would represent an escalation that “would propel this into another level of political discussion and concern.”

On Iran’s strategic intentions, GEN (ret.) Votel was unambiguous: “Iran is principally focused on permanent sovereign control of the Strait of Hormuz and is willing to accept the risk of large-scale conflict before they’re willing to relinquish it.” He also confirmed that Iran almost certainly used the temporary ceasefire to reconstitute some of its degraded military capabilities, calling it “absolutely in the realm of possibility.”

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