'It does appear to be a violation of the ceasefire': Hertling on Iran targeting U.S. Navy

0:00 Joining us now, retired U .S.

0:01 Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertlin former commanding general of U .S.

0:04 Army Europe and MSNOW military analyst.

0:07 It's always good to see you, General.

0:09 Look, missiles, drones, naval fighting.

0:12 None of this amounts to a violation of the ceasefire,

0:15 according to the administration.

0:17 And, of course, it's an important question

0:19 because Democrats argue Trump has But, truthfully,

0:35 in watching the last couple of days, these are more than just random.

0:38 These are obvious attacks by the Iranian government

0:41 against merchant shipping and, in many cases, U .S.

0:44 naval vessels.

0:45 So I would say personally that it does

0:47 appear to be a violation of the ceasefire.

0:50 And I think it's primarily because the president doesn't

0:54 want to go back into kinetic operations against Iran.

0:59 He's looking for it to expand a little bit.

1:02 He's looking for Iran to take his proposals

1:04 in terms of allowing ships to move through the Straits,

1:08 but I don't think we're going to see that.

1:10 Iran has not basically ponied up to any of these negotiating tools,

1:15 and they're still willing to keep the straits closed as best they can.

1:19 They will suffer slightly because of it, but it's also indicative of a process,

1:26 a peace process that is not going well.

1:28 The negotiations are not achieving the results

1:31 that either side wants them to achieve.

1:34 Well, according to the joint chief chairman, Dan Cain,

1:37 there are more than 1 ,550 COMMERCIAL

1:40 VESSELS RIGHT NOW TRAPPED IN THE ARABIAN GULF.

1:43 SO FAR, JUST TWO SHIPS HAVE SUCCESSFULLY BEEN

1:45 ESCORTED OUT AND WE'VE SEEN IRAN'S AGGRESSIVE REACTION.

1:49 SO I WONDER WHAT YOU'RE WATCHING FOR AS THIS WHEN THIS OPERATION PLAYS OUT?

1:54 WELL, YOU SAID SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT IN TERMS OF ESCORTING SHIPS, CHRIS.

1:58 I'M NOT SURE THAT IS THE TECHNIQUE THE NAVY IS GOING TO USE.

2:02 THEY'RE TRYING TO CLEAR lanes.

2:03 When you're talking about personally escorting ships, man,

2:07 the hundreds and even up to 2 ,000 ships that are

2:13 in the strait or to the western part of the strait,

2:17 that's going to take a whole lot of effort by the U .S.

2:21 Navy to escort them out.

2:23 They are clearing lanes.

2:25 They're hopefully trying to find the locations where

2:28 Iran has laid mines so lanes can be cleared.

2:31 But they're looking to find ways to get those ships out of there,

2:35 possibly without escorting them.

2:38 And the reason I say that is because there are so few,

2:42 relatively few, I should say, destroyers and cruisers that can escort.

2:46 You certainly can't ensure all of those ships are taken out

2:50 of the straits and back into free water unless you have some

2:53 type THEIR SHIPS AND THAT CERTAINLY WOULD MASS A TARGET

2:58 FOR THE IRANIANS TO STRIKE WITH THEIR MISSILES AND SOME OF THEIR DRONES.

3:03 NONE OF THIS IS MAKING VOTERS HAPPY

3:05 ACCORDING TO A new Washington Post-ABC News poll,

3:08 66% of Americans disapprove of Trump's handling of the war,

3:13 the latest in what has been, frankly,

3:15 a punishing wave of bad polling for the president.

3:18 But he has been dismissive.

3:19 LISTEN.

3:22 THEY DID A POLL ON THE WAR WITH IRAN,

3:26 AND THEY SAID ONLY 32% OF THE PEOPLE LIKE IT.

3:30 WELL, I DON'T LIKE IT AND I like war at all,

3:32 but we're equipped better than we have the greatest military in the world.

3:35 But when you explain it, like, is it okay for Iran to have a nuclear weapon?

3:41 It wouldn't be 32%.

3:43 BUT EVEN IF YOU SAID THAT, THEY WOULD BE A 32% BECAUSE THE POLLS ARE FAKE.

3:47 I MEAN, THEY'RE TOTALLY FAKE.

3:49 WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE U .S.

3:52 TO BE FIGHTING A WAR WITH BIT OF A LITTLE BIT

3:53 OF AN OVERWHELMING LACK OF SUPPORT FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND FRANKLY,

3:58 THE DISMISSIVENESS OF THEIR BELIEFS,

4:01 THEIR FEELINGS, THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCE, EVERYDAY PEOPLE.

4:07 YEAH, THAT'S A STAGGERING COMMENT BY THE President, Chris.

4:11 I mean, one of the things he's

4:13 suggesting is he is dismissing the American people.

4:16 And it is the government writ large,

4:19 which means Congress and the American people

4:22 that have to be pulled together to support

4:24 any kind of actions where America's sons and daughters are put into harm's way.

4:28 And, yeah, the president is absolutely right.

4:31 People don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons.

4:34 But that's a very different I THINK THAT'S A DIFFERENT QUESTION THAN SAYING,

4:38 DO YOU SUPPORT A WAR?

4:39 THERE'S A WHOLE LOT MORE TO WAR OBJECTIVES THAN JUST USING MILITARY FORCE.

4:45 AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE REBELLING AGAINST.

4:48 THERE IS SHOULD OR THERE SHOULD BE DIPLOMACY,

4:51 INFORMATION AND ECONOMIC POWERS BROUGHT TO BE AGAINST URAN,

4:56 EXCUSE ME, And that isn't happening.

4:59 The president is relying on one tool, and that's the military.

5:03 The military is conducting very good operations,

5:06 but it isn't enough to bring Iran to bear.

5:09 I heard the secretary of DEFENSE THIS MORNING,

5:12 WHEN HE WAS ASKED ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES WERE WELL KNOWN.

5:18 AND HE SAID, OF COURSE THEY ARE.

5:20 AND THEN HE DIDN'T DESCRIBE WHAT THOSE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

5:23 were and how they were going to be reached.

5:26 That's why we're losing support.

5:28 The president is losing support for this war

5:31 because he has not availed himself of his allies.

5:34 He hasn't tried to pull others into this fight,

5:36 and he hasn't listed what the strategic objective

5:39 is other than trying to open the straits.

5:43 And that in and of itself does not dictate ways and means of doing so.

5:47 Retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling.