An officer in U.S. Central Command's intelligence branch sent an email last week to a broad group of military analysts with an unusual request.
The military is casting an unusually wide net seeking new ideas for winding down the Iran war launched by President Donald Trump, reported CNN, and that includes an email sent Wednesday by a senior officer that's effectively crowdsourcing "new creative and unconventional ways to pressure and punish Iran," the email said.
"[This] is notable in a couple of different ways," said CNN's Zachary Cohen. "One, I'm told by multiple sources, that a request for new ideas like this isn't necessarily a bad idea. It's seeking input from a variety of topics of subject matter experts seeking input from a wide array of analysts who study this stuff pretty regularly is not necessarily a bad call by senior military officers."
"But at the same time," he added, "those same sources say that it does underscore this feeling that the president, President Donald Trump, feels stuck by the limited military options he currently has."
A source familiar with the message said CENTCOM is "looking at everything" and acknowledged the need to re-evaluate its approach. CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Timothy Hawkins characterized the outreach as consistent with the command's culture of innovation, saying Admiral [Brad] Cooper "reaches out to members of our great team, regardless of rank."
The email preceded Trump's threat to launch fresh strikes on Iran — a threat he abandoned days later after Saudi Arabia's crown prince personally called to urge de-escalation. Weeks of U.S. airstrikes aimed at curbing Iran's ability to threaten the Strait of Hormuz have failed to produce a negotiated deal.
The military's options, sources say, are narrowing. Plans to strike Iran's remaining nuclear sites, including Pickaxe Mountain, face a basic problem because the facilities are buried too deep for bombs alone to destroy them. Ground troops would likely be needed — a risk Trump has resisted, particularly with 18 U.S. service members already killed and questions swirling about casualty transparency.
One option under discussion is a symbolic "fireworks"-style strike that could let Trump claim victory without actually eliminating Iran's nuclear program.
Intelligence assessments aren't encouraging either. Both the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency have concluded the current bombing campaign is unlikely to shift Iran's position, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine has told lawmakers plainly that "air power has its limits."
As one source familiar with the planning put it: "You need creative minds at times — especially if you're running out of conventional options."
That leaves Trump boxed in between choices he has spent years publicly rejecting: sending ground troops into what could become exactly the "stupid foreign war" he vowed to avoid, or settling into an indefinite cycle of strikes and counterstrikes resembling the forever wars he has long condemned. For now, he insists on a cleaner outcome, saying Friday that "we just want to win."
"It's always good to ask for new ideas," said CNN's John Berman, summing up the report, "although it does betray the fact that they think they need some new ideas because it's not working out well."
