A former top U.S. general who commanded troops in Iraq is warning that President Trump’s strikes on Iran could plunge the region into “chaos.” Retired United States Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling said Monday that U.S. forces are conducting “precision strikes with great effects” but cautioned that external bombardment alone “can’t produce democratic change” and may “strengthen the hardliners” in Tehran. “When we’re talking about, I think, the Middle East, which I’m very familiar with and have a whole lot of scar tissue in, what I conclude is external strikes alone can’t produce democratic change. We’ve seen that in multiple conflicts,” he told MS Now.