Admiral Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, advised pausing strikes near
the Strait of Hormuz, Axios reports. His recommendation to the Pentagon, the
Joint Chiefs and the White House helped persuade President Trump to suspend
planned strikes on Iran on Friday. Cooper told officials two weeks of strikes
had significantly degraded Iran’s ability to attack ships and that most
designated targets had been struck. He said roughly 20% of targets assigned in
the "Epic Fury" operation remain unstruck and that the next step could be
resuming large-scale operations to complete them. Cooper warned that continuing
the recent air campaign without deciding to resume large-scale operations would
be "meaningless." Military and civilian advisers told the president gains
Achievable by military action, particularly air power, are limited.
