Former Trump Advisor Kellogg: Here's How the US can Beat Iran
Ex-Trump envoy Keith Kellogg demands the U.S. seize Iranian islands, arm insurgents, and abandon nuclear talks: "Let's finish the job."
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, former Trump special envoy, issued a blunt call Wednesday for the United States to abandon diplomacy with Iran entirely and shift to all-out pressure, warning that Washington is currently fighting on Tehran's terms rather than its own.
"Having a protracted war is not the American way of war," Kellogg told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "I would reach a point right now of saying, 'We're just done with you guys. We're gonna go in, we're gonna finish the job.'"
Kellogg argued that the U.S. has been drawn into a prolonged attrition campaign that suits Iran far more than America, and called for a fundamental shift in approach. "Let's play our game, not their game," he said, invoking the U.S. approach in the World Wars as the model to follow.
He proposed seizing strategic assets including Kharg Island and islands in the Strait of Hormuz using Amphibious Ready Groups already in the region, along with elements of the 82nd Airborne Division. "All of a sudden, now you're creating and compounding the problem for them to try to solve, and I don't think they can solve it because they don't have the leadership left that can figure this out," he said.
Kellogg also called for escalating economic pressure by targeting Iran's fuel industry rather than civilian infrastructure, arguing the U.S. should "strangle" the regime's ability to sustain itself, and said arming insurgents inside Iran was a "good idea."
On the ongoing negotiations, Kellogg was dismissive, comparing Iran's tactics to haggling in a bazaar. "They constantly say they're going to negotiate, that's right out of their playbook," he said. "The president gave them ample opportunity to negotiate. Now it's time to finish it."
The remarks put Kellogg sharply at odds with the current White House approach, which has continued pursuing a diplomatic track through Qatari and Pakistani intermediaries even as military strikes continue following the downing of a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz.