Trump ‘pouring gasoline on a smoldering fire’ in Iran with no plan for the explosion to follow: Ex-NATO commander

MSNBC's James Stavridis warned that President Donald Trump's order to kill Iranian general Qassim Suleimani would dangerously escalate tensions in the Middle East -- which could blow back on the United States.

The retired U.S. Navy admiral and supreme allied commander of NATO told "Morning Joe" that Suleimani, who led the clandestine Quds Force, was dangerous -- but he said the killing would inflame an already tense situation.

"Suleimani is an evil person, he's a villain," Stavridis said. "We are better off tactically for his piece being taken off the chessboard. He was smart, he constructed very clever attacks on us, so tactically this is a positive."

The retired admiral agreed that Suleimani was the most significant military figure in the Middle East over the past generation, but he worried about the president's strategy.

"Tactically, I'm glad he's gone," Stavridis said. "Strategically, however, we are pouring gasoline on a smoldering fire with no structure or strategy for where we're going to take this thing next, and I'll tell you the Pentagon today is going to be on all hands on deck doing the defensive measures all over the world to make sure that we're prepared for the response, because there will be a significant response."

"Killing Suleimani would be roughly -- it's hard to categorize this, but it would be roughly like killing the current chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Mark Milley," he added, "and also, by the way, taking out the second most active political actor in the United States in the government. So this will demand a response from Iran."

Stavridis said Pentagon officials must make adjustments to U.S. military presence all over the Middle East and plan for what comes next.

"We've got to start to construct a real strategy here that lays out a case for how are we going to control this ladder of escalation, which has jumped from Iran killing a contractor to us killing their chairman of the joint chiefs of staff," he said. "Big escalation. We better be prepared for the wave that is going to hit right now."