Iran War Shows No Sign of Ending Despite Airstrikes; U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Weighs Exit Strategy to Spare Trump’s Face

[Financial News] As the war in Iran drags on for nearly six months, calls are growing inside the United States for an exit strategy. Even the nation’s top military officer, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, has begun to openly push that view.
According to CNN on the 8th local time, Dan Caine urged other senior advisers to "find a way out of the war in Iran." Caine argued that air power alone would not achieve the objective and could even backfire. A source said he discussed alternatives with the United States Secretary of State, the CIA director and the Vice President.
In this regard, President of the United States Donald Trump had considered options such as striking energy infrastructure or bombing bridges. But Caine and his staff worried that those moves would have limited effectiveness and could trigger retaliation against Gulf countries.
What concerned Caine was not only the risk of attacks on Arab allies. Before the war even began, he had warned that a prolonged conflict could severely deplete United States weapons stockpiles, affecting support for Israel and Ukraine. According to CNN, Caine also raised concerns about shrinking munitions reserves in at least two recent meetings with President Donald Trump. In fact, the United States now has ammunition stocks at dangerously low levels.
In the end, a growing view inside the United States is that Iran cannot be decisively subdued without deploying ground troops. But no one is willing to push that argument forcefully because of the possible sacrifice of thousands of United States troops. CNN reported that Caine and his staff are therefore focused on finding an exit strategy that can give President Trump a symbolic victory, while working to secure a diplomatic breakthrough such as reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
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