Joe Kent joined as Jordan came under fire again and Trump posted that if Iran hits back it will be struck harder still, with something larger held in reserve.
His warning ended with this:
"There will be very little left of the Islamic Republic of Iran"
Kent, who ran America's counterterrorism center until recently, sees a president back at square one.
The strikes are the same tool that failed months ago, the strait still runs at half its pre-war flow, and the periodic-strikes plan assumes Iran absorbs punishment without answering, which Iran is disproving in real time.
The trap he fears is casualties: one lucky Iranian hit forces an escalation from a toolbox the Pentagon has nearly emptied.
Trump himself said yesterday there is no way he would use a nuclear weapon, which leaves the question of what "biggest of all" means unanswered.
Moscow, in Kent's reading, sees the same emptiness.
He explained why the CIA director's message carried no weight:
"The battlefield didn't change under the Trump administration, but the rhetoric did"
@joekent16jan19
