“On to Richmond!” —the battle cry from the North in the spring of 1861— fueled a march south expected to bring a quick, decisive end to the Civil War. Instead, the Union Army suffered a crushing defeat at Bull Run and retreated to Washington with the clear realization that a long war lay ahead.
More than quick, aggressive military action, strategy would be necessary to defeat the South. Winfield Scott’s “Anaconda Plan” aimed to strangle the South economically through a naval blockade and other means. Similarly, the air war in Iran, which has been brilliantly executed, led some to have high hopes for a swift victory through decapitation.
The Pentagon obviously has myriad plans for various contingencies, but as of now, the decapitation has not killed the beast. One of those strategies should include implementing an Anaconda Plan to cut off the Iranian regime’s funding that fuels its nuclear ambitions, funds its terror proxies, and suppresses the Iranian people. We shouldn’t destroy infrastructure and just declare victory and go home.
Currently, our stated goals are to dismantle missile production and its industrial base, the Iranian Navy, and key sources of power, such as IRGC bases. This is a conventional approach to an unconventional problem. It is only part of the solution. The Iranian defenses are distributed and irregular, a so-called “axis of resistance”—Hezbollah, Shiite militia in Iraq, Houthis in Yemen—and are difficult to defeat conventionally. Paradoxically, destroying facilities in Iran only activates their networks, which will fight asymmetrically. The regime’s revenue, mainly through oil, powers all of it.
Economics—the collapse of currency that led to hyperinflation—spurred the recent protests of the Iranian people, and economics are vital to overthrowing the regime. Disabling, seizing, or destroying their oil infrastructure is essential to defeating the regime and restoring power to Iran’s people.
Remarkably, the Iranian regime is still supplying oil—even after the start of Epic Fury. Like Venezuela, seize all oil transports and ghost tankers. Capture, disable, or, as a last resort, destroy the facilities at Kharge Island, their Achilles’ heel, which accounts for up to about 90 percent of Iranian oil products. Cut off the rail and port traffic in the north, which transports much of their weapons and drone revenue to Russia. Diversify the assault by continuing to attack the regime’s financial assets and other means of evasion, such as using client states to launder their money.
Kharg Island is Iran’s primary oil export terminal in the Persian Gulf. This rocky limestone island is unique because it is one of the few islands in the Persian Gulf with freshwater which has collected within the porous limestone. In addition to its commercial and strategic importance, the freshwater has biological importance, supporting populations of gazelles. This high-resolution photograph taken by astronauts on board the International Space Station shows detail of the tanker dock facilities, tanks and other infrastructure. Sunglint on the surface of the water highlights small amounts of oil on the sea surface and reveals the direction of the local currents, Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center
Fight irregular warfare with irregulars.Unleash Special Operations to arm the Iranian people and also eliminate the remnants of the Iranian nuclear program.The United States has over 250 years of irregular warfare experience, including many tactics America pioneered. We also need to complete the primary mission. Commando raids could be used to ensure the destruction of the Iranian nuclear ambitions and the capturer final destruction of enriched uranium.
Authoritarian regimes are fragile. The same economic problems that plagued the Iranian regime before Epic Fury have now worsened, damaging their economy by tens of billions of dollars. The IRGC, without oil revenue and other funding sources, is a zombie regime. However, if the revenues used to support Iran’s terror empire are not cut off, they will just rebuild. Driven by personal revenge, the new alleged supreme leader will continue Iran’s 48-year-long war to spread the revolution, attempt to destroy Israel, and bring more death to America.
There are times in history when allowing an evil terrorist state is incompatible with a free world. Led by President Trump, the United States, Israel, and their allies have taken the first brave steps in finally ending this one. Let’s not stop until this diabolical regime is completely vanquished.
Patrick K. O’Donnell is a bestselling, critically acclaimed military historian and a leading authority on American elite and special operations units. The author of fourteen books, including The Unvanquished, The Indispensables, The Unknowns, and Washington’s Immortals, he is a senior fellow at Mount Vernon and has received numerous national awards. O’Donnell served as a combat historian with a Marine rifle platoon during the Battle of Fallujah. He is a director and the historian for The OSS Society and is a professional speaker who frequently lectures on America’s conflicts, espionage, special operations, and the Revolutionary War. He has provided historical consulting for DreamWorks’ award-winning miniseries Band of Brothers and for documentaries produced by the BBC, the History Channel, and Discovery.
www.patrickkodonnell.com
@combathistorian
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