Brig. Gen. Audino: Biden Needs to Take ‘Decisive Action’ against Iran

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Kurdistan24) – Brig. Gen. Ernest Audino is retired from the U.S. Army, in which he rose to the post of Deputy Director of Operations. Currently, Audino is the Senior Military Fellow, Kurdistan Program, at the Gold Institute for International Strategy.

According to his on-line biography, Audino fought in the 2003 U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein and his regime, Operation Iraqi Freedom. In that war, Audino “commanded a team of combat advisors embedded in 3rd Infantry Brigade, 4th Division Iraqi Army,” his on-line biography states. “His brigade was formed entirely from Kurdish Peshmerga” units and “re-missioned to conduct counterinsurgency operations,” it explains. Audino considers that assignment to have been “among the most rewarding in his political career.”

Audino spoke with Kurdistan 24 on Tuesday, and he called on the Biden administration to take a much tougher position toward Iran and the attacks on U.S. forces being carried out by its proxies.

“We need a very forceful response.” Audino said. “Unfortunately, decades of reasoned discussion with Tehran have not mitigated their aggressive behavior. They’re meddling throughout the Middle East.”

“And now we have over 160 strikes against U.S. assets and locations in the region,” he continued. “We have three recent deaths of Americans. We have several strikes inside Erbil against our Kurdish partners. And after 160 strikes against Americans, we need a very forceful response.”

Audino cited an example of one such forceful response:what Ronald Reagan did in 1988, as Iran began to mine the Straits of Hormuz. 

Ayatollah Khomeini was still Supreme Leader of Iran, and Reagan warned Khomeini against doing that. But the Iranians paid no heed.

”So we launched “Operation Praying Mantis,” Audino said, explaining that it had been “the largest naval operation since World War II, and we destroyed half the Iranian Navy.”

“And guess what?,” he continued. “The Iranians stopped mining the Straits of Hormuz.” He then used that example to affirm that “after 160 strikes on Americans and our partners, it’s time for a decisive American response.”