The U.S. military buildup in the Middle East near Iran signals that a confrontation is increasingly likely and any strike should be "overwhelming and devastating," former Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie said Saturday on Newsmax.
"Well, look, if the attacks and the destruction of most of their nuclear infrastructure didn't cause them to raise the white flag, a limited strike will not," Wilkie told Newsmax's "America Right Now."
"It will still give them the ability to hit our bases anytime they want to," he added.
"It will still give them the ability to rain rockets down on Israel."
Wilkie spoke as President Donald Trump has reportedly been meeting with top advisers about Iran and as U.S. and Iranian delegations have held talks in recent weeks, including a recent meeting in Geneva.
Asked about reports that Trump is considering an initial, limited strike to pressure Iran back to the negotiating table, Wilkie said a short operation would not change Tehran's behavior.
Wilkie said if a strike occurs, it should be decisive, pointing to U.S. airpower and naval capabilities in the region.
"This is not a regime you can make a deal with, and [a strike] would have to be overwhelming and devastating," he said.
"And what you don't see on the maps is what is waiting for the Iranians with the United States Air Force, the B-52s, the B-1s, the B-2s."
He added that U.S. carrier groups can sustain a high tempo of operations, describing them as "ships that can carry out over 100 missions in a 24-hour period."
Trump, asked about the prospects for an agreement, said this week: "We're either going to get a deal or it's going to be unfortunate for them," adding that "Ten, 15 days, pretty much maximum."
Wilkie also said Iran's role in supplying Russia could have broader implications beyond the Middle East, linking Tehran to Moscow's war effort.
"This impacts the Russian war in Ukraine, too," said Wilkie.
"The Russians are being supplied daily with ballistic missiles and drones by the theocratic fanatics," he added.
In a separate exchange, Wilkie dismissed renewed discussion about government disclosures related to extraterrestrial life, after comments that former President Barack Obama made during a podcast about whether space aliens are real.
"I'm one of those who thinks that this is for the tinfoil crowd," Wilkie said.
"We're not going to see anything like that, Elvis isn't coming back in, [and] E.T. is not flying an F-22."
However, he said that Obama's statements indicate "just how unserious" the former president was about national security.
"He handed them hundreds of billions of dollars, no questions asked, and they played him like a fiddle," said Wilkie.
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