What the US needs to know about Iran’s mosaic defense

When critical decisions are taken without complete understanding of the reasons that brought success and provoked failure, the almost certain outcome is failure. This is a theme in my upcoming book, coauthored with former United Kingdom Defense Chief Lord David Richards.

In Vietnam, Afghanistan and the second Iraq war, a militarily superior U.S. was doomed to fail because its leaders did not heed this. And so in analyzing the war with Iran, a simple question encapsulates our work: Does anyone on the U.S. side understand Iran’s mosaic defense? 

Iranian leadership comprehends this reality of military imbalance: In a conventional war with the U.S. or Israel, Iran cannot win. Its already outdated air force and trivial navy have been “obliterated,” according to President Trump. Iran cannot project sustained conventional power beyond its borders.

The strategic response to this dilemma was a mosaic defense — neutralizing an adversary’s strength by making a country impossible to decapitate or too expensive to occupy using ground forces.

Beginning in 2005, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Center for Strategy, headed by Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari and chief strategist Hassan Abbasi, took on resolving this challenge. The second Iraq War was the starting point. Saddam Hussein’s centralized command structure was eviscerated by American military superiority. Iran could never match American military power. The lesson was clear.

These strategists concluded that decentralization was the new strategic center of gravity for........

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